you're the highlight of my lowlife
by Cordelia Rose
Summary: Liam's never looked twice at Theo Raeken, Beacon Hills High School's resident 'bad boy', until he runs into him under the bleachers at a late lacrosse practice. After that, he keeps looking.


Thiam is slowly killing me

I have written this instead of practicing for my upcoming university interview in three days, enjoy

Also, quick side note – I tried to include smut, but I am myself a female with female anatomy, and I am also gay, and all of my sexual experiences have been with female anatomy. Therefore, I do not know much about male anatomy. There's my excuse if the smut is awful

Many thanks once more to my irl friend alice for screaming about teen wolf with me and for looking over this monster (hope you enjoyed all the inside jokes I managed to slip in)

Enjoy my lovely readers!

* * *

There's nothing quite as satisfying as the sound that lacrosse balls make when they hit the net, or the way the net itself billows out with the momentum, or the thud when the ball finally hits the ground again, and rolls a few paces before coming to a halt.

Liam fires another five balls in a row straight into the goal, then takes a break to stretch his arms out. The floodlights illuminate the individual hairs on his arm as they stand up, the breeze chilling the sweat on his body. Technically he's not meant to be here so late that he has to turn on the lights just to see where the goal is, at least not without a faculty member there, but along with Scott he's the star player, and Coach has never exactly been above breaking the rules if it serves him well – and Liam getting some extra practice in does serve him well.

Liam can't say he hates it either. Lacrosse is a way for him to control the anger that near constantly thrums in his veins, cools the urge to punch by replacing it with tackles and powerful throws. Without thinking, he reaches down to scoop up another ball, but his stick catches on the uneven surface of the field and he swipes half of the remaining pile backwards, some rolling as far as the bleachers. Liam curses under his breath and runs a hand through sweaty hair.

Part of him wants to ignore it, but another part, the one that hates when things aren't exactly in place and orderly, insists that he go and collect the truant balls. He kicks them back towards the others as he finds them, pleased to see that his aim is just as good when he's using his feet rather than his hands. One has rolled under the first row of the bleachers, hovering just out of reach from ground level, so Liam hops up onto the seats and flattens himself, reaching his arm between the gap to retrieve the ball.

As he's fishing around for it, he thinks he sees a movement under the bleachers, but gets distracted when his fingers finally curl around the escapee ball. But then he sees it again, and jerks upright and hits his shoulder on the metal above him. His yelp of pain echoes around the lacrosse pitch, embarrassingly high-pitched, but he's more focused on the chuckle that he definitely heard.

Liam slides off the bleachers and walks backwards, keeping his eyes on the dark figure he can see lest he disappears, and grabs his phone from where he'd abandoned his stuff on one of the benches. Blindly, he fumbles with the passcode, walking back towards the origin of the noise, and with random swiping somehow manages to activate the torch. Now armed with the gift of sight, he advances cautiously, ducking under the metal seats, shining the light in front of him.

Theo Raeken, smoking a cigarette, stares at him, looking more unimpressed than anyone ever has before him. Even in the unforgiving glare of the phone torch he looks magazine ready, hair tousled and clothes artfully rumpled, stubble just the right length and skin clear as always. He inhales from the stick and then blows out smoke while he stubs it out, orange ember fading slowly. He tilts his head to the side, like he's considering Liam.

"You're Theo Raeken," Liam blurts, and tries to cover how awkward he feels by making his tone ten times too cheerful. He winces internally, wishing he could go back those few seconds and maybe not screw up his first time talking to the resident 'bad boy', as Scott calls him (with something close to reverence in his voice), or 'guy you want to punch in the balls' as Stiles would say (with not reverence so much as unbridled jealousy). Either way, Theo takes no shit, from students and teachers, but gets away with it because his grades are actually pretty good and he's got a pretty face. Kind of amazing how much of an asshole you can be when your jawline was modelled after a Greek god's. More like an Adonis, though, not Hephaestus – sorry, dude.

In his inner monologue about cool kids and ancient mythology, he misses most of what Theo says, but sees his lips moving and manages to focus his mind enough to catch the tail end of the sentence. "—illegal to be here this late?"

"Explains why you're here," Liam snaps back, before he can think it through and stop himself, but Theo just barks a delighted laugh and looks at him with something like respect.

"Doesn't explain why you're here," he replies, taking a single step forward that feels like both a challenge and a reassurance.

"Lacrosse practice," Liam says, feeling that his response is bordering on lame and weak, and backs it up with, "I assume you're here for the same."

Definitely respect. Theo's eyes flick up and down his body, appraising, and there's a definite sparkle there that was absent before. He sucks his bottom lip into his mouth before he replies, seemingly debating with himself, then says softly, "Something like that."

Liam would have loved to carry on the verbal battle that seems to have arisen between them, but something in the other boy's voice stops him. It's sarcastic on the surface, but underneath is a hint of angst, sorrow.

"I'll leave you to get on with your practice then," Liam says quietly, and checks the time on his phone's lock screen. "Gotta get home anyway." He turns and doesn't even pause when Theo calls out after him.

"What's your name?"

Liam grins to himself. "Wouldn't you like to know." He feels kind of smug about that retort for the first few minutes of his journey home, and then halfway through the walk he starts cursing himself for trying to sound cool; he probably just sounded like a wannabe edge-lord. Just why is he so bothered about trying to impress Theo, again?

* * *

The next day he's shoving a load of books into his locker and pulling others out in the short five-minute break between periods (which sounds like a long time, but isn't when your classes are on opposite sides of the building) and listening half-heartedly to his friends' chatter, when he twists to catch a falling folder. The new angle means he catches sight of Theo, leaning against a wall with a pair of sunglasses on, looking for all the world like he would rather be anywhere else.

Swallowing, Liam gathers the things he needs for his next couple of periods into his arms, and shoulders his locker shut. A quick glance at the group of people next to him confirms that they aren't paying any attention to him – the focus is mainly on Malia, who's freaking out about a test she's getting back next period that she's, like, a _thousand_ percent certain she's failed. So Liam walks over to the other side of the corridor, narrowly dodging a collision with several other students, and approaches Theo in what he hopes is a casual manner. It's probably more like a constipated goose, but the older boy has his head tilted back, long neck exposed, and the light is filtering through his sunglasses in just the right way, so Liam can see that his eyes are closed.

"Hey."

He gets no indication that Theo is listening other than a slight tilt of his head in Liam's direction.

"My name is Liam."

At that, Theo opens one eye lazily, and with effortless grace reaches up to swipe his sunglasses off his face. The other eye opens as he folds one leg of the glasses under the neck of his (low) V-neck shirt. "Dunbar."

Liam makes a face that is probably akin to a guppy fish. "You – you asked my name!"

Theo grins, slow, predatory, amused. "I didn't know it last night."

Liam bites his lip. Part of him is flattered, another part slightly creeped out. A larger part is bemused. "So you…found out? Somehow?"

The smirk is still there, more hunter than ever now. Sharp canines are just visible past pink lips. Liam feels an irrational urge to reach out and stroke his thumb over the brushing of stubble that's accentuating his jawline. "I like knowing things," Theo says suddenly – no, not says, _breathes_ , and pushes off the wall, crowding into Liam's personal space. Liam takes a step back automatically, and Theo doesn't move forward again, to his faint disappointment. "Don't you?"

"I – uh, yeah, I love knowing things. Lots of things. One of my favourite things is knowing things," Liam rambles, wishing someone would appear and tape his mouth shut so he could stop embarrassing himself.

Theo's eyes flicker behind him for a moment, to where Liam's group of friends where; Liam resists the urge to turn around and see if they're all staring over at them, and instead holds eye contact when Theo turns back to him. "Do you know…lots of things about me?"

Liam nods, not trusting his lips to form the words he wants them to. Theo shakes his head in response, and then ducks his head to Liam's ear. He supresses a shudder as hot breath fans out over his skin. "Forget everything you think you know about me, Liam. None of it's true."

Staring at the strong profile of Theo's face, Liam feels a sudden rush of adrenaline. He's caught up in something, not sure yet; he could be the fly in a spider's web, about to be eaten, but right now he doesn't particularly care. "Then what is? True, I mean." Damn it. Theo practically gave him the ability to be smooth and he messed it up.

Theo pulls back, and slowly slides his sunglasses back on before he answers. "You'll have to find out." The smile dims down to a small tug at the side of his lips. "And that's my cue to get going." A second after he speaks, the bell rings. "See you around, Liam Dunbar." He raises his eyebrows for a fleeting moment as he backs away, then turns and heads off to whichever class he has.

Liam doesn't even get enough time to get a breath in before he's surrounded by his friends, Mason on one side and Scott on the other, rapid questions about if Theo is harassing him echoing in his ears. He feels a pang of mingled irritation and affection; he knows they're looking out for him, but did anything about the exchange seem like Liam was being bullied? He poses the question back to them.

"Well," Scott says.

"We don't know how he operates!" Stiles interrupts.

"Jeez, Stiles, he's not a criminal," Liam says, taking a step back so he doesn't get whacked in the face with a folder as Lydia gives up on the conversation and walks off with a dramatic flourish, probably meant to say 'do you guys not care about your education at all?'

"Actually, he kind of is," Corey pipes up timidly from next to Mason, then immediately looks down at his folders when he realises that he just spoke in front of a load of people. Liam doesn't speak for a minute, shocked into silence by actually hearing Corey's voice at school (Corey makes Mason happy, and Liam likes him for that, but the guy tends to fade into the background most of the time), and even more surprised by what he actually said.

"He is?" Malia asks, eyes glinting instantly. As much as she protests it, she loves gossip just as much as Lydia does.

"One charge of assault and two charges of drug possession," Corey says quietly. "Let off for them, though."

"What? Why?" Stiles explodes. Scott puts a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"The assault was provoked, and the drugs were small amounts of weed, so it wasn't considered serious." Corey's starting to look like he wished he had never said anything in the first place, and also looks oddly shifty about the whole thing.

"How do you know all this?" Liam asks, but Mason throws an arm around Corey's shoulders and, with an equally shifty expression, announces that they'd all better be getting to class. Scott glances around for a clock and then his face shifts from slightly confused to fully panicked when he shouts that they're nearly five minutes late, and they all scurry off before they get demerits for being late.

* * *

Apparently Theo is a creature of habit, because when Liam heads out to do more solo lacrosse practice that evening, he can see the other boy standing under the bleachers, thumb moving quickly over his phone screen. Something about his expression is urgent, pinched, so Liam doesn't intrude and moves to start goal practice again.

When he finishes with that, satisfied he's as good as he can be, he chances a glance over to the bleachers and sees Theo smoking. "You'll kill your lungs," he yells, looking away before Theo can react and busying himself with gathering up the equipment.

"Good. Means I'll die faster," comes the response a couple of minutes later, and when Liam looks up Theo is now sitting on the bleachers, a few rows up, and the cigarette is out. Liam frowns at him for the comment, and drops his stick as he ambles over to the bench.

He props his leg up and reties his shoe for something to do. "Don't make jokes like that," he reprimands.

"Wasn't a joke."

Liam switches feet. "Know how to play lacrosse?"

"Nope."

"Want to learn?"

"Nope." The bleachers creak ominously. Liam glances up in time to see Theo stomp his way across to the end of the row and then start heading down, face a dark storm cloud.

"Sorry," Liam says, because he feels like he said the wrong thing somehow.

Theo looks up at him, eyebrows forming a crease above his nose. It's kind of adorable. "Never be sorry, Liam Dunbar," he says with an odd kind of flat humour in his voice, and then walks off, stuffing his hands into his jacket pocket as he heads away.

Liam goes back to practicing, but can't seem to focus.

* * *

Theo isn't under the bleachers on Wednesday, or Thursday. Liam doesn't seem him skulking around the school either, and when he asks Scott (aiming for casual and failing miserably), he finds that he hasn't been to any of his classes.

He laments to Mason about it at lunch, about how he's worried that he's upset Theo, and Mason points out that he's spoken to the guy three times in two days, so why is he so worked up?

Liam doesn't have an answer for that, and starts poking at his food dejectedly. Mason takes pity and sighs, nudging Corey, who says shyly, "He's ill."

Liam's head snaps up. "Because of me?" he asks wildly.

Corey glances sideways at Mason. "No," he says slowly. "He has a bad headache. I think he caught a cold."

Liam nods. "Okay." He settles back into his chair, then unsettles again. "Wait, how the hell do you know that?"

"We're neighbours," Corey says under his breath, tips of his ears going red. Mason grabs his hand where it lies on the table, presumably to calm him down. "He drives me to and from school usually."

Liam gapes. He's about to say something along the lines of, 'How the hell did I not know this?', then realises how ridiculous he's being. Like Mason said, he's barely spoken to Theo, and most of their conversations (for one thing, they could barely even be called that) have been confusing as fuck; why is he so invested already? He just nods instead, and wonders when Theo will next be in.

* * *

Friday rolls around, and in the last period Liam gets stuck with a load of Biology homework that he already knows he won't be able to do without some serious help from Google. Judging from the thickness of the bundle of papers, it's going to take him at least several hours, too. He changes so fiercely that he nearly rips his lacrosse jersey and storms onto the field, and spends an hour practicing his dodges and tackles against a dummy.

Eventually he pulls his helmet off, hair sticking to his scalp and forehead, rivers of sweat falling down his back, and rubs his hands over his face. He thinks he hears footsteps behind him, and considers snapping at whoever it is to just leave him alone, even if it's Coach, and then –

"I want to learn."

Liam whips around so quickly he loses balance and staggers back. Theo reaches out for him just before he rights himself, and then his arms retract back to his sides so quickly Liam has to wonder if he imagined the movement at all. "You do?" he squeaks.

Theo nods silently, then pulls off his jacket and tosses it uncaringly onto the bench where Liam's own stuff lays. Muscles ripple in his now bare arms, only the very tops of his upper arm covered by sleeves, and when the breeze brushes against them a defined six-pack appears, outlined through his T-shirt.

"Okay," Liam agrees, and heads over to the equipment bin to find pads, gloves and a stick.

* * *

"Are you sure you've never played before?" Liam pants, as Theo tackles him and gets the ball into the goal for the fifth time in a row.

"Never," Theo laughs. He looks happy, eyes alight, a spark in them that Liam hasn't been able to see before, mouth wide open in a grin, small beads of sweat making their way down his neck. "This is fun."

"Always fun when you're winning," Liam grumbles, but breaks into a smile when he sees how adorably pleased Theo is with his own progress. He takes a break and pulls his helmet off again, practically able to feel his brain cells dying from the heat, and stretches out his arms.

"So, you seem stressed," Theo says conversationally, pulling his own helmet off. "Or maybe you always hurl balls at the dummies when you think nobody's around."

"Screw you," Liam mutters, cheeks colouring. He had an outburst, so what? Theo isn't in any position to judge. Look at him, he's the poster boy for delinquent adolescent.

"If that will help," Theo replies easily, and Liam chokes on the breath he just took in. "With the stress, I mean."

"Kind offer, but pass," Liam eventually manages, wondering (just for curiosity's sake) what would happen if he agreed. "Just some Bio homework that I don't get." He's about to pull his helmet back on and suggest they work on passes again when he sees Theo's expression. He looks conflicted, caught between thoughtful and dismissive.

"I'll help."

Liam does a double take. "You…will?"

An expression close to offence flits across Theo's face before he shrugs. "Yeah. I'm pretty good at Biology. You're doing genetics now, right?"

"How do you…"

"I help Corey out a bit." Theo shrugs and begins unvelcroing his gloves. "He struggles."

Liam racks his brain for everything he knows about Corey. "His GPA is, like, 2.5," he says slowly. To him, that doesn't exactly scream that Theo is a great tutor.

"2.7," Theo corrects. "Used to be 1.3. Corey's got problems at home, not exactly conductive to studying." He looks up at Liam like he's daring him to say something about it. "Don't tell anyone that. Especially not Mason. He worries about it a lot."

Liam nods, and follows Theo's lead in pulling off his gear. "Help would be great," he says tentatively into the silence, and is rewarded with a genuine smile. "After we shower, though." He can smell himself, and it's not good.

"Trying to get me naked? Damn, Dunbar." Theo shakes his head and tuts.

* * *

Showering turns out to be just as awkward as Liam had expected it to be. He stoically keeps his eyes on the wall ahead of him as he scrubs body wash over his skin, under his arms, and quickly lathers shampoo into his hair. Under the shower head next to him, Theo whistles cheerfully, going through the same motions, but without any of the urgency or tension that Liam seems to be feeling. Regardless, they finish around the same time, and dry off together, dress in silence, apart from Theo's damn whistling.

They end up back out on the bleachers, floodlights casting a harsh glare on the textbook that Theo is using to explain genetics to him. It takes him a while, and a few attempts, but Theo is unpredictably patient with him, running over the same paragraph again and again and breaking it down each time until Liam finally understands semi-conservative replication. Then they sketch punnet square after punnet square until Liam swears he could do them in his sleep (he says this aloud to Theo, at which point the other boy points out that that's a good thing), and end the two hours with a quiz at the back of the book that Liam aces.

Theo offers to drop him back home but Liam declines, wanting to jog like he normally does, clear his mind and keep up his fitness. Theo shrugs and wanders back to his truck, lighting a cigarette as he does. Liam watches him go, a curious lightness in his heart when he thinks about the Biology homework he's got to plough through this weekend.

* * *

He does the homework within two hours on Saturday morning, pen flying over the paper as the answers come easily to him. He wants to text Theo and tell him that he gets it, thank him for it, but he never asked for his phone number. He texts Scott first to ask for it, then Stiles, then Lydia and Malia. None of them do, but all of them want to know why Liam wants it, a question he smoothly dodges by turning his phone off and ignoring them for the rest of the weekend.

* * *

Monday kicks off with Biology, and for once Liam doesn't want to stab himself in the eye with his own pen when he sits down. He hands in his homework, Ms Finch looking pleasantly surprised when she sees the neat worksheets he's handing in, and even the announcement of a surprise test doesn't bring him down.

In fact, he opens the small booklet to discover that the first three pages (out of five total) are nothing but punnet squares, something he now feels the utmost confidence in doing thanks to Theo. Even the dihybrid crosses don't make him panic.

The next two pages are a little more challenging, some stuff about mutations and Okazaki fragments, but to his own surprise (and Ms Finch's) he manages to scrawl a decent answer to everything. The tests are marked by the assistant during the lesson and handed back as they walk out the door. Liam gets 100%, his first full mark – first mark over 60%, for that matter.

He waves the test in Mason's face at the lockers at the break, but then flees again when he sees Scott approaching. He doesn't want to be questioned about his growing fascination with Theo just yet.

He considers going to the library to get some homework done, and then maybe he'll _accidentally_ bump into Theo, but he rethinks that plan and realises that Theo would never be found in the library. As far as Liam knows, Theo attends his classes, somehow learns everything he needs to know while sitting in the back row and dicking around on his phone, and then skulks around the corridors in his spare time, occasionally takes off in his truck only to return an hour or two later.

With that in mind, he hides out in the bathroom until the bell has gone and everyone will have either gone back to class or somewhere to study – and he spends that time considering just how absurd his life has become recently – and then creeps back out into the deserted corridors.

Luck seems to be on his side, because he turns around and – there's Theo, wearing his sunglasses inside again like a pretentious shit, looking unimpressed like always, though Liam swears a grin fights its way onto his face for just a second when they bump into each other.

"Theo!" Liam blurts, before he can stop himself. Unlike Theo, he doesn't try to suppress the smile, and beams at the older boy. "I got 100%!"

Theo looks confused, eyebrows creasing together over the top of his glasses, before his expression clears and he actually smiles. "On your Bio homework?" he clarifies.

Liam nods. "And a surprise quiz!" He's so pleased about it that he has to stop himself from literally jumping up and down, but one glance at Theo's amused expression indicates that maybe he's not being as subtle as he'd hoped. "Thank you, thank you so much!"

"No problem," Theo says casually, and actually _smiles_. "Anytime, seriously."

"How about lunch tomorrow?" Liam says before he can stop himself, and then trips over his own words trying to explain. "I mean, go out somewhere together? I'll pay, as a thank you, and maybe we could do some revision together?"

Theo cracks an even bigger grin at that. "Sounds great." He slides his sunglasses off and stuffs them into his pocket. He opens his mouth to say something, but Liam interrupts him because –

"Holy shit! Your eye!"

Theo chuckles (self-consciously?) and ducks his head, rubbing knuckles over the bruise gently. "Pretty badass, right?"

"I – I mean, yeah, but…Theo, oh my God, what happened?" Instinctively, Liam reaches out to touch Theo's shoulder, a small gesture that to any of his other friends would have gone practically unnoticed, but Theo jerks back, looking startled.

An uneasy silence grows between them, feeding off the tension greedily. Liam wants to break it, reassure Theo somehow because he can't help but feel like there's something greater and darker going on to do with Theo's aversion to touch, but he doesn't know what to say or do that wouldn't make it worse. He contemplates apologising, but that might get Theo's back up. He thinks about brushing it off, but that would make it more awkward. He just starts debating whether to change the subject entirely and pretend it didn't happen when Theo speaks.

"I'll wait by your locker at the beginning of lunch tomorrow." He sounds back to normal, voice casual, slightly gravelly from the cigarettes he's no doubt worked his way through that morning.

"Okay," Liam says in a small voice. Much to his surprise, Theo, self-proclaimed asshole and guy who has more demerits for fighting than any other student, reads his tone and expression and his own face softens.

"I don't like people near me," he explains in an equally quiet voice. "Not personal."

Liam nods, and begins to shuffle away, partly to give Theo some space but also because he needs some himself. "See you tomorrow," he mutters, and turns his back. He can't help but feel like he's messed up somehow, screwed up some of the fragile trust that had sprung up between the two of them.

"Liam?"

Too quickly, too eagerly, Liam spins on his heels to see Theo extending a folded piece of paper to him. He backtracks, and accepts the paper, flips it open to see a string of numbers.

"Here's a bunch of numbers that may look random, but they're my phone number," Theo says with a perfectly straight face.

Liam gapes. "Did you – did you just quote _Bob's Burgers_ at me?" he asks, dumbstruck, because there is no way in hell that _Theo fucking Raeken_ just quoted a line from _Tina fucking Belcher_ at him.

Theo shrugs cockily, and pulls his sunglasses back out, blocking Liam from seeing his (gorgeous no Liam stop) eyes. "It's not a good day until you quote _Bob's Burgers_ ," he says, entirely seriously. "New episode on tonight. You should text me about it." He walks away before Liam can even react.

* * *

Liam punches the number into his phone seconds after Theo walks away, and saves it simply as 'Annoying fuck'. He doesn't do anything with it for the rest of the school day, though he can practically feel his phone burning a hole in his pocket, practically screaming 'text him', but he keeps his self-restraint and goes to extra lacrosse practice.

Theo doesn't turn up this time, not under the bleachers or sitting on them or even anywhere around them, and Liam swallows his disappointment and channels it into playing instead.

He doesn't even think of texting Theo until he collapses on his bed back at home and flicks the TV on; then he remembers what Theo said. The cheery theme music comes on, startling him, and he unlocks his phone and opens a new message.

 _Looks like a good one._

He sends before he can overthink, then holds his phone to his chest like it's the holy grail. The episode gets two minutes in before his phone vibrates, a text from 'Annoying fuck' incoming.

 _Are you talking about the episode or my face?_

Liam groans, wondering why he wants to be friends with this guy again.

* * *

"These are the best fries ever," Theo mumbles around a mouthful of the aforementioned fries. "I would fuck these fries."

"Well, you've fucked everything else," Liam mutters, shoving a fry in his own mouth, and then realises what he's just said. "I – shit, Theo—"

"No, no, no," Theo says, holding a hand up to stop him, then taking a sip of his drink while he swallows his fries. "Don't ruin it by apologising. I _love_ sassy Liam."

Liam lets a smile quirk at the edges of his mouth, then devours an onion ring ungracefully. "I didn't mean it," he mutters anyway, feeling like he has to apologise regardless of Theo's comment.

"Yeah, you did," Theo says, amused, and proceeds to cram half of his burger into his mouth at once, smearing a load of ketchup across his lips. "But it's true," he mumbles through half-chewed good. "So I can't get mad."

"You really have slept with most of the school, then?" Liam asks timidly. He's heard the rumours, along with everyone else, but for all he knows that is all they are. Rumours.

"I wouldn't say most," Theo contemplates. "Just over half of senior year, maybe."

"That's most."

"To-may-to, to-mah-to," Theo says dismissively, waving a hand between them and then stealing some fries from Liam's plate. He still has sauce all over his mouth, and it's driving Liam a little crazy.

He grabs a napkin and reaches over the table, swiping at Theo's mouth to get the ketchup off. He sits back down, satisfied, and supresses a laugh at Theo's indignant expression.

"You – dude, you just totally Mom'd me!" Theo exclaims, voice pitched ever so slightly higher than usual, much to Liam's amusement. He sniggers, which only fires Theo up more. "You. Mom'd. Me." He repeats.

"Yeah, well, I mom'd your mom last night," Liam retorts, impressed by the comeback until he realises how weird it is, at which point he slinks down the chair to hide under the table, only pausing when Theo barks out a shocked laugh, then collapses into giggles. Liam stares, not quite processing that the words "Theo" and "giggle" can now be put together without "doesn't" in between them.

* * *

Typically, because Liam's life had been going far too well lately – Biology scores on the up, scores in _every_ class going up for that matter, a budding friendship with Theo, his progress at lacrosse – his friends decide to host an intervention of sorts. It's a warm day so they've decided to eat out in the courtyard. Liam's finished his lunch and is texting Theo (updating him on what lessons he's had, how he did, how he's feeling, what he's had for lunch, and receiving the same information from Theo, and fuck off Mason it's not like they're boyfriends can't two bros check up on each other) when he realises everyone's gone silent except for frantic whispering between Scott and Lydia.

When he looks up, pocketing his phone, everyone's staring at him while pretending not to stare at him, and Scott is brooding like a ten-year-old kid who's been told he can't go out to play. He sighs. "You don't like me being friends with Theo," he says flatly, careful to keep any accusation or hint of annoyance out of his voice.

Everyone looks at each other, apart from Mason, who keeps looking at him, and Corey, who looks down at his lap and shifts like he would really rather be anywhere else, which he probably would. "If you're happy we're happy," Mason starts, but his voice isn't quite right. One glance at Mason and Liam can tell that he doesn't really mean what he's saying, he's just reciting it to give an opening to the conversation. "But we're concerned that your… _friendship_ with Theo might not be what's best for you." He gives Liam a meaningful look, and immediately he knows that what Mason is actually thinking is 'if you two are dating I better know about it but apart from that whatever', and he feels a swell of affection for his best friend.

Mason's carefully guarded words open the floodgate, and soon the conversation is awash with all of his friends offering up their sage advice, because they're two years older and have had loads of experience with these things, of course. Liam listens to "we just want what's best for you" and "you don't get a reputation like _that_ for no reason" about a hundred times before the switch finally gets flipped.

Instead of the usual explosion, though, this anger is white-hot and frozen cold at the same time, settling in the pit of his stomach like poison. He feels himself getting closer and closer to the breaking point as they all keep talking, never shutting up, and he finally snaps when Scott says in a voice probably meant to be concerned but in reality just condescending, "We aren't telling you how to live your life, but we think you should stay away from him."

The burning, freezing rage floods through his limbs. "Too bad we're hanging out tonight," he says, surprisingly evenly, staring Scott dead in the eyes. He's not quite sure where the lie comes from, just knows that being told he can't do something has made him more determined to do it.

Stiles butts in, to the surprise of literally nobody. "You're what?" he explodes, slapping a palm down on the picnic table they're sitting at and making the remains of everyone's lunch jump. Lydia's fork clatters onto the ground, and she shoots Stiles a dirty look as she bends to retrieve it.

"We're going to revise together. Biology. You know, I've been getting straight As since he started helping me." Liam looks at each of them, daring them to say something. Nobody does, and the bell rings. "Better get to lessons," he chirps, and is the first to stand up. Inside he's rejoicing; partially because he managed to 'defeat' his friends in this argument they just had, but also because he controlled his anger for once. As he walks away, he pulls out his phone and opens up the conversation thread with Theo. He takes a minute to read and reply to his latest texts and then types out a new message.

 _Want to come round to mine tonight?_

* * *

Thankfully, Theo says yes, and Liam gets the satisfaction of seeing Scott's resigned and Stiles's appalled faces as he comes by his locker to collect him. Theo seems to pick up on the slight tension there, and delights in making it worse by taking Liam's books from him and standing over him protectively while he finishes shoving things in his locker.

As they walk towards the doors, Theo says genially, "McCall, Stilinski," and then loops his free arm around Liam's shoulder. It takes everything inside Liam not to burst out laughing when Scott whispers, "Oh my God he knows our names."

* * *

Theo likes Liam's house. Liam can tell because he prowls around downstairs for about ten minutes, examining everything with a small smile, before he hurries upstairs and repeats his investigation. It gets even worse in Liam's room; he takes ages looking over everything, from the posters on his wall to the iPod connected to the speakers, to the books on his shelves.

Finally, Liam says, "Are we going to study?", and Theo snaps away from the desk guiltily.

"Of course," he says, dignified, and grabs the Biology textbook from the stack of work he'd dumped earlier. "What are you doing now?"

Liam sighs, sitting down on the floor, back against the bed. Theo joins him, sitting so close their knees touch. "I don't even know," he admits. "Everyone else seems to be getting it, but…I can't even explain what it is that I don't know."

"Page?"

Liam flips to the right page and waits for Theo's eyes to flicker down the words. He studies his profile as he does, the strong line of his jaw and nose, and only drags his eyes away when Theo exhales and nods. "Yeah. Yeah, I know this. Okay."

They spend half an hour on the first paragraph of the section alone, which would be humiliating even if it weren't just the introduction, and just when Liam thinks he's finally got the hang of it they move onto the next paragraph, and he finds that he's lost it already.

Frustrated, Liam throws the pencil he's been fiddling with at the opposite wall, and runs his hands over his face. "Fucking stupid," he mumbles behind his palms, not sure if he's referring to himself or the subject. Maybe both.

"Nope," Theo says instantly. "Liam, come on, look at me." He tugs at Liam's wrists when he makes no move to drop them, and forces their eyes to meet. "You're not stupid," he says quietly. "I would tell you if you were, trust me, I tell Corey that he's a dumbass all the time."

Liam frowns, unable to tell if he's joking or not. "That's not very nice," he points out.

Theo smirks, a little sadly. "I'm not very nice."

"You are," Liam insists. Theo's fingers are burning hot where they press into his skin, still firm but not too hard on his wrist. "To me, at least." He catches sight of the textbook on Theo's lap and scowls. "Even when _I'm_ being a dumbass."

Theo exhales, a frustrated huff. "No," he says firmly. "No, Liam. You'll get it, and how long it takes you to understand something is not an indicator of how clever or stupid you are. People learn in different ways."

Liam shakes his head. "I don't learn in any way when it comes to science," he insists. "I just don't."

"That's bullshit," Theo says sharply, anger adding a harsh rasp to his tone. "You got the genetics."

"Because of you!" Liam nearly shouts, frustration and self-doubt finally getting the better of him. "I only get things because of you!"

"Then why won't you get this because of me?" Theo asks gently, and stops Liam in his tracks. He's right, but Liam doesn't want him to be right, he just wants him to admit that Liam's stupid and incapable of understanding anything. He sighs and collapses in on himself, and in a small voice tells Theo that thought. "I don't lie," is Theo's answer, but he's studying Liam carefully and seems to see that his tactics aren't working as well as he'd like them too.

He struggles with something, a debate passing over his face, and then drops Liam's wrists. Liam is about to protest, because the touch had been somewhat grounding, calming, when Theo replaces the grip on his arm by sliding one hand onto his neck and another round the curve of his hip and then kisses him.

There are no fireworks, like books always say, no music starts playing in his brain, no magical mind-blowing moment happens. Instead the kiss just feels right, intrinsically, like he's at home and at peace and nothing actually will ever bother him again. In its own way, it is fireworks and music and mind-blowing. But it's also so much better.

Theo pulls back after a few seconds, pitifully too short, and begins rambling in a way that Liam would find adorable if he wasn't so focused on his swollen lips. "Sorry, I just – I thought it would help, but – are you straight? I mean, I should have – consent, right? – sorry – I shouldn't—"

Liam cuts him off. "Please tell me that you didn't do that just because you wanted to calm me down."

Theo looks confused. "I – yes? But also…more?"

"More as in because you want to kiss me even when I'm not having a meltdown?"

Theo nods, all worry disappearing from his face. "Yeah. Do – do you?"

"Yeah!"

The next kiss (and the many after that) last for a lot longer.

* * *

At some point they migrate to the bed, falling on top of the covers messily, unwilling to disconnect for even a second. Nothing more happens than the kissing – Liam's not even sure if it could be classified as making-out, because Theo carefully keeps his hips away from Liam's, and the furthest they get on each other bodies are when Liam clutches at Theo's back on top of his shirt and Theo drops his head to kiss down to his collarbone.

It stays pretty much PG, by some unspoken agreement between them, until naturally at some point they both start to get tired and move apart with gradually slower kisses. Liam texts his mom to say that Theo is going to be staying the night, and they take turns showering and changing into pyjamas (borrowed, in Theo's case) and then do some more work, and some more kissing, before the clock ticks over to eleven and they slip under the covers.

Liam turns onto the side facing away from Theo after he turns off the light, and Theo shuffles towards him and throws an arm around him. Their breathing evens out and then synchronises as they begin to drift off. Before they fall into unconsciousness, Liam is pretty sure he registers Theo press a chaste kiss to the back of his neck, and squeeze him just a little tighter.

* * *

"Are we telling people?" Liam asks in a voice that is barely a whisper as he pulls his socks on the next morning.

"If you want to," Theo says, like this isn't a big decision. "We don't have to."

Liam chews his lip. "Are we dating?"

"If you want to," Theo repeats, smiling easily. "If you want my opinion – yes, we are. But it takes two to be in a relationship."

"Please," Liam says immediately, and then internally berates himself for being so lame. Theo doesn't seem to mind – he just smiles like he finds it adorable and crosses the room to kiss him, chaste and sweet. When they break apart, Liam blurts, "I can't tell people."

Thankfully, Theo doesn't look hurt at all, not even for a second. "Okay," he agrees readily. "Then we won't." He tugs Liam closer to him and wraps his arms around his back, running his thumb down his spine. Liam shivers at the tingle it creates.

"Thank you," he murmurs into Theo's chest, breathing in his natural scent, for once unmasked by the cologne he wears. "For understanding."

Theo doesn't reply, just presses a kiss to his hair before pulling back. "Come on, pack your bag," he says briskly, grabbing his own stuff from where he'd dumped it yesterday. "Need to get going."

Liam rolls his eyes. "Never knew you cared about your education so much."

"I don't, I care about you," Theo says like it's nothing, and pushes some textbooks into Liam's arms. "Here, this should be everything."

It doesn't occur to Liam until he gets home (by himself) that night to question how Theo knew what lessons he had.

* * *

A few weeks pass without anything eventful happening. Liam doesn't interact with Theo much at school, mainly because Theo is barely ever around, but sometimes after lacrosse practices they make out under the bleachers, and at the weekends Theo comes over and they do work together.

It feels right. Liam wasn't aware that something had been missing from his life, but now that him and Theo are…a _thing_ …it feels like he's complete. Even sitting on Liam's living room floor and trying to learn about cell division feels like the best thing in the world.

Friday rolls around far too quickly for Liam's liking, and he walks into school with a feeling of dread in his stomach. First thing he has a Biology test that makes up 40% of his final grade. It doesn't matter that he's been getting nearly full marks in all the quizzes and homework lately, or that he's spent hours going over and over everything with Theo; he knows he's going to fail.

Before he can reach his locker, hands close round his biceps in a familiar, comforting manner and he gets steered into the bathroom. "Theo," Liam tries to protest, because he had been hoping to rush to the library and get some last-minute revision in. Theo ignores him and just pushes him in front of a sink instead, then tilts his head up so he's looking in the mirror.

Theo meets his eyes, and smiles at him, full of warmth and belief. "You're going to be fine," he reassures. "You've done so much revision. You're going to do amazing."

Liam nods, trying to convince himself of the words. "What if I forget everything?" he croaks.

The door creaks open and someone, a freshman by the looks of it, wanders in. Theo bellows, "Out, asshole!" at him and he retreats, looking shaken, and probably believing that Theo was about to beat Liam up or something. "You are going to be absolutely incredible," Theo continues, like the interruption hadn't happened.

Liam can't stop the smile. "You act like such a tough guy around everyone else," he teases, watching as a light flush dusts across Theo's ears and high on his cheeks. "But really you're just a softie."

Theo grumbles but steps closer and wraps his arms around Liam's waist. "Only for you," he murmurs, presses a kiss to the indent just behind Liam's ear and then steps away. "Come on, bell's about to ring." The bell goes a second after he says it.

"How do you always do that?" Liam wonders aloud, as they head out of the bathroom and back into the hustle and bustle of school.

"I have a watch," Theo replies dryly, and then pulls his sunglasses out of his pocket and slides them on. It's like they activate unfeeling Theo mode, or something, because immediately his face goes kind of mask-like. It only breaks slightly when he looks at Liam one last time and says, "I'd wish you luck, but you really don't need it. Go kill it, Dunbar."

* * *

Liam does not kill it. He doesn't feel like he does, anyway. Half an hour into the test he starts to panic, faced with a question that he doesn't understand at all. He's breezed through some of the ones before it, struggled but managed with others, but this one…crap.

He stares at the black ink for a solid minute without thinking, words beginning to blur and run into each other, when in his peripheral vision a movement makes him jerk his head up. Theo's walking into the classroom, casual as can be, holding a stack of papers and handing them over to Ms Finch. The teacher thanks him and goes back to her work. Theo saunters back to the door, and turns to open it, deliberately making eye contact with Liam for a few long seconds before he mouths, 'You got this,' and leaves, shutting the door with a soft click.

Lucky coincidence, or whether Theo managed to rig it somehow so he had to take some papers to his room, Liam feels calmer instantly. Theo's right. He has got this. He looks back at the question, and by some miracle suddenly realises what he needs to write about. He remembers Theo walking him through the explanation in the textbook and the smile on his boyfriend's face when Liam had finally understood it. Just like that, he scribbles down an answer, sentences flowing out of his pen easily.

* * *

Liam spends the rest of the day anxious, both dreading and anticipating the last bell that means he will be able to go and collect his test result from Ms Finch. Mason is in a similar state to him, but oddly enough Corey is calm and unbothered. Lunch is spent with their friends trying to stop Mason and Liam from freaking out too much while Corey shrugs and makes an offhand comment about how he knows he's failed to Lydia when she asks why he's not worried too.

The end of the day rolls around quicker than Liam wanted it to, but also much slower than he had hoped, and with the final bell he hurries to Ms Finch's classroom and joins the short queue of other students waiting to get their results. A few seconds later he's joined by Mason and Corey, but none of them talk, lost in their own anxieties.

Finally, Liam goes in, and takes the test from Ms Finch with shaking hands. Her face is stern, giving nothing away. He takes a deep breath and glances down, eyes widening when he sees a bright red 'A' and a circled '94' at the top of the page. When he looks back to his teacher, she has a rare smile on her face.

"Well done," she says genuinely. "Whatever you've been doing lately, keep it up."

"I will," Liam says softly. "Thank you." He bounces to the door and shows Mason his test score before his friend goes in to collect his own results, and then runs to his locker to grab everything he needs. He ends up just grabbing literally everything and shoving it into his bag in haste, and then pulls out his phone and dials Theo's number.

Behind him, a ringtone goes off, and he turns around to see Theo standing behind him, an eyebrow cocked in amusement. "What's the occasion?" he asks lightly. "Good mark?" He's not wearing his sunglasses, so Liam can see the forced nonchalance in his eyes that shields the urgent concern.

"I got an A!" he yells, not caring that several passing students jump at the sudden shout. "Thank you, thank you so much."

Theo grins at him and jerks his head towards the exit. Talk and walk. "I'm so proud of you," he says quietly, as they head out into the warm air. "Seriously. If I could kiss you right now I would."

Liam grins, then an idea strikes him. A way to show Theo his thanks, how grateful he was. "You know, I've never gone back to your house," he says casually, looking straight ahead.

"Oh?"

"Maybe we could, you know…" Liam shrugs as the sentence trails off. His own parents are at home right then, so making out would not be an option.

"I think we could," Theo says, equally as casually, and they both head towards his truck with light hearts.

* * *

Theo's house is nice, a bit smaller than Liam's own, messier on the inside and outside too. Theo kicks items out of the way for them as they walk down the narrow hallway, and then leads Liam up the stairs to his room. Again, it's slightly smaller than Liam's, but looks bigger because he has less stuff. In contrast to the rest of the house, it's tidy and organised, everything neatly in its own place.

There aren't any posters up, just a few photos of Theo and who Liam assumes is his sister throughout various years, but the walls are occupied by shelves, full of books and ornaments. The curtains are still drawn, the only light coming from a couple of lamps Theo has flicked on.

Liam doesn't spend too much time or focus on the décor, eyes zoning on the neatly-made bed almost immediately. Is it too forward to go straight to it and kick things off right away? Maybe so; instead, Liam drops his bag by Theo's near-empty desk and toes his shoes off, then hesitantly turns to where Theo is shrugging off his jacket.

Liam's mouth goes dry for a second, then he averts his gaze and blushes, not wanting to be caught staring. He does get caught though, presumably, because Theo chuckles and then moves nearer.

"Personal space, Theo," Liam says weakly. He can feel the heat coming off him, he's so close. Another chuckle, then warm hands sliding over his hips, touch restricted by the material of his shirt, and Liam suddenly wants it off, so he steps back and yanks it over his head. His eyes snap up to meet Theo's when he tosses it to the side, emboldened by the fire he sees awake in Theo's eyes, and before even a second ticks by Theo is back on him, lips clashing against his hungrily, fingers dancing over the muscles in Liam's back and stomach and arms before he's being tugged over to the bed, pushed down and climbed on top of.

"So gorgeous," Theo mumbles, dropping his head, one hand resting splayed on his chest, sucking at his neck until Liam pulls his hair, directing him away, muttering about no visible marks, and Theo obediently moves down lower to his collarbone and starts nipping and licking at the bone there.

As usual, despite Liam's writhing, Theo is careful to keep their hips apart, but this time Liam wants more, he wants that contact, needs it. But before he can successfully get the words out the older boy is moving down the bed again, long legs gracefully slotting in between Liam's own, moving mouth and stupidly talented tongue down to his chest, laying a path of kisses down the sternum before steering to the left and enveloping a perked nipple with his mouth.

Liam moans before he can stop himself, then claps a hand to his mouth so he doesn't repeat the embarrassingly high-pitched, needy noise, but Theo glances up and sees what he's done and quickly takes the hand and links it with his own, fingers intertwining. "Want to hear you," he says lowly, eyes predatory, before ducking back down and swirling his tongue around Liam's nipple again. The hot wetness is overwhelming by itself, and then Theo starts to suck gently and _Christ_ Liam is a goner. He shudders and his hands move of their own volition down from Theo's (soft, gorgeous) hair down his back and clutch the material of his shirt between two clenched fists, head thrown back in ecstasy.

The sensation is electrifying, even more so when Theo scrapes his teeth just barely over the bud before switching sides and repeating his ministrations with the neglected nipple. By the time he moves off and trails his tongue down the firmness of his abs Liam is rock hard, panting, whining in the back of his throat like an animal.

Theo lashes his tongue out over his stomach, lathering hipbones in sucks and bites before he makes his way back up to Liam's mouth slowly and captures him in a slow, steady kiss that gradually gets more dirty. They break apart so Liam can tug Theo's shirt over the top of his head, throwing it away blindly, and then takes a minute to admire Theo's body, the toned rigidity of his biceps, the way his abs flex when he inhales sharply. Liam presses a kiss to Theo's jaw experimentally, letting his teeth graze over the area because that was what Theo did earlier, and the response is immediate. Their hips roll together as Theo finally gives in to the instincts he's been repressing, and the groan vibrates into Liam's mouth when he seizes his lips again.

It's the best sensation so far, possibly, because it feels like he's giving Theo back the pleasure that he's been selfishly taking and not reciprocating, but a second later Theo shudders and pulls back entirely, face gratifyingly flushed.

"I – ah, sorry—" he manages, looking embarrassed suddenly.

"No," Liam insists, and scrabbles to link his fingers into the belt loops of Theo's jeans, then pulls him down against him. Theo bites his lip when they rub together again. "Please, Theo. Please."

Theo exhales loudly. "Yeah," he whispers. "Yeah, okay, God – Liam, are you sure?"

"Mmhmm." Liam tries to pop open the button on Theo's jeans but his fingertips are sweaty and he can't get a grip. Theo bats his hand away and presses a tender kiss to the back of it, then reaches down and easily opens Liam's jeans without even looking properly.

The action reminds Liam how much more practice Theo has had at this, and he zones out thinking about it, only brought back to reality when Theo kisses his cheek, soft and sweet, and murmurs, "You're shaking, sweetheart."

"Sorry," Liam whispers back. Theo looks worried, concern pooling in his eyes. Liam hurries to reassure him. "Just…nervous. About messing it up," he explains.

Theo breaks into a smile immediately. "You could never mess anything up," he breathes, then tugs on his earlobe with his teeth gently.

Liam shivers at the sensation, then drags his hands up to tangle in Theo's hair. "Then what are you waiting for?" he dares, relishing the spark his words bring to Theo's eyes.

"You're going to drive me crazy one of these days," Theo mumbles before dipping down to kiss him, hand slowly pulling the zip of Liam's jeans down. Theo's hand brushes ever-so-gently over his straining cock inside his underwear, feather-light strokes that leave Liam gasping into his mouth.

"Ready?" Theo asks, smirking at the reaction he's caused. Liam digs a nail into the soft skin at the back of his neck in retaliation, but Theo just smiles wider. "I'll take that as a yes." Even while he's being smug he checks Liam's reaction, and when he sees the clear want in Liam's eyes he tucks his thumb into the elastic waistband of his underwear and pulls it away from the skin, and then the next second his hand disappears down under the material and _oh_ –

Liam's eyes flutter shut, a hoarse moan leaves his mouth and echoes into Theo's mouth. It's the best sensation so far, hot and all too much. Liam arches his back off the bed and bucks into Theo's hand, into his long, nimble, talented fingers, whimpering when Theo begins to speed up his strokes a little, brushing his thumb over the slit on every up-stroke and squeezing firmly on the down-stroke.

Liam breaks away from the kiss when the need to breathe becomes unignorable, and pants harshly into the side of Theo's neck. The friction is starting to become more unpleasant than it was pleasurable, so he swallows and manages to choke out, "Too dry."

Theo stops immediately, kissing him in apology, and his hand leaves Liam for just a second as he reaches over to his bedside table and fumbles around blindly in the drawer. Liam whines pitifully until Theo returns. There's the sound of a cap being flicked open, a kind of wet sound, and then Theo puts his hand back but this time it's slick with lube, and somehow he's managed to warm it up in just a few seconds.

It's so much better like this, and within just a minute Theo has Liam reduced to a quivering mess. He can barely think straight, but somewhere in the fog of his mind he remembers that Theo must be achingly hard too. "Do you – I mean, should I?"

Theo pauses for a second, looks conflicted. "Um – we could, ah," he tails off, looking worried. "Together."

Liam thinks he knows what Theo's referring to, hopes he does anyway, and nods eagerly as Theo unbuttons his own jeans. He sighs in relief when the constricting material is loosened, palms himself briefly before wiggling his jeans and briefs down his hips just enough to get his own cock out.

Liam can't help but stare – he's only ever seen his own, and porn, but Theo looks…delicious. Thick, long, curving slightly to the left, head flushed red and leaking. He's about to say something about it when Theo leans down and rubs their cocks together, and all intelligent thought flies out of Liam's head. He moans even louder, hands immediately searching for Theo's jaw to pull him back into a hard kiss, and then Theo begins stroking them together.

Liam knows he's not going to last long, and wants to do something before he ends this, so clumsily he reaches down and wraps his hand around Theo's, trying to copy his movements. He doesn't really do much aside from mess up Theo's rhythm, but Theo dances his tongue into his mouth when he starts and Liam comes within another 30 seconds, body jerking against Theo's as he pants and whines and hand scrabble uselessly across Theo's back, probably scratching him to hell, but just a few strokes later Theo comes too and collapses onto him.

They catch their breath together, Liam wrinkling his nose when he starts to get oversensitive, and Theo mumbles an apology and rolls off him, off the bed, and tucks himself back in before stumbling out of the door. Liam watches him to go, too tired to call out, wondering where the hell Theo is off to with come all over his torso and such obvious sex hair. A minute later, he returns with a towel and a clean chest, and sets about carefully wiping Liam down with the damp, warm material before he tucks him back into his underwear and then carefully pulls his jeans off, settling him on the bed.

Liam drifts off to sleep nearly straight away when Theo returns and navigates them both under the duvet, sated by his orgasm and by Theo's gentle petting of his hair.

* * *

Liam wakes a few hours later, mouth dry. He rolls out of the bed, intending to go get a glass of water, noticing how dark it had become while they napped together. He passes by the window in Theo's room and glances out, and sees, vaguely illuminated by a porch light, Corey, standing in the yard of the house opposite, leaning his back against a tree.

It strikes Liam as not quite right, so he forgets about his glass and pads downstairs and heads straight to the door. Corey doesn't notice him as he crosses the road, only looks up when Liam deliberately kicks a few stones along the pavement to announce his presence.

"Liam," Corey says in surprise, glancing behind him, probably expecting to see Theo following.

"Corey," Liam replies, not sure where to go from here. "You okay?"

Corey nods, too quickly, but Liam lets it drop. He tries to think of something to say, and ends up accidentally blurting out, "I accidentally had sex with Theo."

Corey's eyebrows crease. "I…don't understand. How do you accidentally sleep with someone?"

"Well. It wasn't like, actual sex. It was…something else. Kind of sex." Corey stares at him, expression unreadable. "But I wasn't planning on it. It was meant to just be making out. Then I gave him a handjob."

Corey nods. "We've all been there," he says sagely. He taps his fingers on the tree behind it. "Do you regret it?"

"No," Liam says softly, thinking back to what had just happened. "Not at all." He turns when he hears a door click open and shut, and sees Theo heading towards them, looking a little groggy still and holding a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. Liam frowns, about to berate him for smoking (because Theo had told him he was trying to quit), when he joins the other two and hands the items over to Corey instead.

"Hey," he greets sleepily, and wraps an arm around Liam's shoulder. He melts into the embrace automatically.

Corey lights a cigarette and gives Theo the items back. "Thanks," he mumbles around the stick in his mouth, and seems to relax a little.

Theo sees Liam's questioning glance as he tucks the items back into his pocket. "Corey's parents would go mad if they found cigarettes in his room," he explains, and just as he finishes speaking a loud crash sounds from inside the house, a distinct tinkling noise of glass shards hitting a floor.

Corey doesn't even react, just takes a deeper drag on the cigarette, while Theo frowns at the closed front door and holds Liam a bit closer to him. "How did you do on the test?" Liam asks, for something to say.

Corey sighs. "I got a C," he mutters.

"You passed," Theo points out.

"Only just. Not the perfect son they want yet."

Liam doesn't know what to say to that, just stares at the bay window next to the door, not paying attention to the faint buzz of Theo and Corey's conversation. The curtains are drawn tight, but there's a light on in the room so he can vaguely see shadows, two people gesticulating angrily at each other, and then one picks something up, the silhouette too indistinct to make out what it is and hurls it, the action followed by a faint thumping noise. This time, Corey flinches, cutting off whatever he had been saying.

"Want to come over?" Theo offers, but Corey shakes his head.

"Going to take a walk. See you on Monday, Liam." Corey smiles at them both as he pushes off the tree. Liam wonders how many times he's seen that smile, knowing now that it covers up so much sadness. Theo raises a hand as he goes, and then steers Liam back to his own house.

"Want to go home?" he asks, seemingly reading Liam's thoughts.

"Do you mind?" he asks apologetically. It's getting late, and he also doesn't really want to stick around now that he's witnessed whatever the hell was going on at Corey's house.

"Of course not." Theo herds Liam into the passenger seat of his truck and rounds the bonnet to climb into the driver's seat. He looks angry in a kind of resigned way, a face Liam recognises from so long again, when Theo had been under the bleachers and scowling down at his phone.

The drive back isn't tense, per se, or awkward, just silent as both of them think things through in their own time.

As Theo pulls into Liam's road, he finally talks. "I don't know what I'm doing," he says into the quiet, voice quiet and a little broken.

Theo parks outside Liam's house, and turns in his seat. "About what?" he says, voice somehow emotionless and caring at the same time.

"About us."

Theo looks like he's going to say something sarcastic, then glimpses Liam's expression under the streetlight and stops himself. "How do you mean?" he asks instead. "Do you mean the relationship, or sex, or…?"

"Everything. I've never done this before. Any of this. It's…scary. What if I mess up and make you hate me?" Liam exhales roughly, feeling like he's been struggling to breathe underwater and has finally surfaced.

Theo laughs. Liam feels offended for a minute, until the older boy speaks. "Liam, sweetheart, you could never make me hate you. Not when you've made me love you this much."

Liam's breath hitches. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Theo's eyes are warm, welcoming, compassionate, his mouth quirked into a small smile. Liam's own lips twitch up in response.

"Even though I'm clueless?"

"Clueless is the new sexy," Theo says, seriously, and grins triumphantly when Liam starts laughing. "Now get inside before your parents think I've kidnapped you."

Liam hops out of the truck and skips round to Theo's side, resting his arms on the bottom of the open window. "I love you too," he says breathlessly, and pushes up on the tip of his toes so he can meet Theo in a kiss.

When they pull apart, Theo looks slightly dazed. "Well," he mumbles, shifting his truck into gear. "I wouldn't say clueless."

* * *

Lunch on Monday is…an awkward affair. Tension hangs over the table like a thick cloud of smog as they all eat silently, only sounds clinks of cutlery and chewing and the occasional sentence as someone tried to make conversation, only for it to tail off.

The reason for the atmosphere was Liam. More specifically, Liam's new relationship with Theo. Liam wasn't exactly sure how Scott had found out, but he was pretty damn certain that it was something along the lines of Corey telling Mason, who had then told Lydia, who had told Stiles, who had exploded into a fit of pique and ranted to Scott about it. Just a guess. And then Liam had arrived at his locker to find everyone shooting him weird looks, apart from his friends, and had to be told by his locker neighbour about the rumours.

Liam should have known that it would get out, considering his friends – and most of the school, for that matter – are terrible gossips. But it would have nice if Scott had come to him about it and asked him, rather than passive-aggressively ignoring him all day.

The same could be said for all of them, actually, apart from Mason, though Liam had a suspicion Corey was remaining silent out of anxiety rather than contempt. Still, it was uncomfortable. Suffocating. _But seriously, what is the big deal about me dating Theo? Yeah, he has a…bad reputation, I guess, but if you took the time to get to know Theo at all, you'd see it's just a front, and that underneath it all he's a real softie. Just a little rough around the edges._

Liam looks up to see everyone staring at him, mouths open, and he colours when he realises his mini-rant had been out loud. "He makes me happy," he adds plaintively. "He's really nice to me." For a second, it looks like Scott's going to say something, then he shakes his head and looks away. Anger boils up in his stomach and threatens to spill out into his fists. Instead, Liam clenches his fists so hard that his nails cut into his palms, the pain grounding him. He registers, but doesn't really pay attention to, Mason's eyes widening as he recognises the signs of an imminent outburst.

Instead of completely losing it, though, Liam inhales to the count of seven, thinking of Theo, his warm eyes, the way he smiles when he sees Liam but nobody else, the drag of his fingertips along Liam's skin, and finds himself in control.

He might have conquered the outburst, but it doesn't mean he's not fuming anymore. Liam extracts himself from the picnic table as gracefully as one possibly can and grabs his bag, swinging it over his shoulder as everyone glances up at him again, this time exchanging weary glances with each other.

"People never gave me a chance." His voice is clipped, tight, but controlled. "Because of my IED. They saw that and nothing else. They never thought that maybe there was more to me than my anger. Until you guys." He drags his eyes over all of them, glad to see they look at least a little big ashamed. "So please just give Theo the same chance. Get to know who he really is, underneath the attitude he has. Get to know the guy who helps me revise Biology and learnt how to play lacrosse just so I'd have someone to practice with and tried to make breakfast but burnt the eggs. He's so different to how he seems." Liam suspects that if he waited around, someone would eventually formulate some kind of thoughtful, apologetic reply, but he's full of a burning momentum now so he strides off, heading back inside the claustrophobic walls of the school corridors.

He pushes in between people, aiming to get to the bathroom just outside the English corridor, the ones that nobody uses because the lights blink on and off and annoy the hell out of people. Liam knows if he gets there he can text Theo and get his boyfriend to meet him there, help him finish calming down. The crowds get thinner and thinner as he works his way through the school, and as he reaches the last few corridors there are no people there entirely.

Before he reaches his destination two letterman jackets appear in front of him. Liam glances up to see two guys off the football team blocking his way, mouths set into mocking sneers. Before he can say anything to ask what the hell they're doing, one of them speaks – McKarney, he's pretty sure his name is.

"You a faggot now, Dunbar?"

The taste of blood fills his mouth as he bites his tongue. Memories flash back to him, of defending Mason when he was being shoved around by bullies like these guys. Back then he'd used his fists. Maybe now he can use his words instead, practice the advice he keeps preaching to Theo. "Yeah, got the certificate for it yesterday," he replies, making sure his voice is filled with sarcasm so the Neanderthals in front of him understand he's joking. "Decided that being straight wasn't for me, filled in the forms, and there you go. Recently turned gay. Bisexuality is just a myth, you know."

The other guy scowls at him. Jordan? Whether that's his first name or last name, Liam's not sure. One of his names is Jordan, in any case. "Don't play dumb, we know you and Raeken are sleeping together."

Liam gasps in pretend shock. "Well, that's news to me. As far as I was aware, we hadn't gotten that far yet, but…" He raises his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. "Oh, by the way, I'd stand back a little bit if I were you. Don't want to catch the gay."

The two jocks look at each other uncertainly and then stumble back a few paces, obviously not sure if he's being serious or not. Liam barely suppresses a snort of laughter, but doesn't hold back the eye roll in case the force of its repression fractures his eye socket. "You can't catch a sexuality, idiots," he snaps before he can help himself. "It's not a choice, it's not a disease, it's a part of who you are. Do you think anyone would choose to be something that they get relentlessly mocked for? And making fun of someone for it is no different than making fun of someone for their hair colour or shoe size or colour of their skin. The main reason you're _so scared_ of people who are open about themselves not being straight is because they're displaying something called 'individuality', a concept I'm sure is far too difficult to comprehend." He crosses his arms and regards them both with a scornful look. "Do you make fun of Sarah?"

"Of course not!" They both look horrified at the thought, as if making fun of Sarah Hoard, a kid with Down's Syndrome, would be going too far. Making fun of gay people, though, or students who aren't as athletic, or members of the performing arts clubs – that's fine, though.

"Then why make fun of a gay person?" Liam counters. "Why is it okay to celebrate the differences of one person for something they can't help, but not okay for others?"

"Because—" Jordan splutters, seeming to realise the futility of his argument – Liam can actually see the understanding sink into his brain, and then he actually looks kind of sad, which he counts as a victory. If even one jock stops being so ignorant, he's achieved something.

McKarney chips in, seeing that Jordan has backed down. "Because it's weird," he announces in a very self-important tone, and crosses his arms smugly like that's the end of the debate, like he's officially had the last word now.

"Is that right?" comes an amused voice from behind the mountain of jocks, and Liam's heart skips for a second, in joy or in apprehension he's not sure. Jordan and McKarney separate to reveal Theo, ambling up to them like he doesn't have a care in the world, those damn sunglasses on his face.

"Yeah," McKarney barks, swelling himself up like some kind of pufferfish, probably trying to look impressive. He looks kind of constipated instead.

Jordan looks decidedly uncomfortable, glancing between the three of them with an agitated expression. "C'mon, man, let's go," he mutters, but McKarney shakes off the hand that he lays on his bicep (too gay probably) and turns towards Theo.

"We don't need your kind around here," he spits. Theo looks unaffected, as if he's used to this kind of talk. He probably is, Liam realises, remembering how many times he's heard Theo referred to as a waste of space by those 'higher up' on the Beacon Hills High School popularity ladder – namely, the sports terms, football more than lacrosse. Mostly because Theo likes to pick fights with the sports teams, if the rumours are true – Liam's belatedly beginning to realise that when it comes to Theo, they mostly are. What came first, the football team talking shit about Theo, or Theo punching the football team?

"We do, actually, whatever that _kind_ is," Theo replies calmly, keeping his slow, steady pace as he walks towards them, hands in his jacket pockets. "To keep your _kind_ from getting too big for their boots." McKarney practically vibrates in anger, but doesn't move. The final straw seems to be when Theo glances past him and shoots Liam a comforting smile, silently asking him how he is, and Liam nods. McKarney roars like some kind of caged animal just set free after years of captivity, and lunges towards Theo, catching him off-guard and swinging his clenched fist at his head.

Liam starts forward at the movement, but he's too late to do anything – McKarney's knuckles make contact with the right side of Theo's face. The right lens of Theo's sunglasses falls to the floor and gets crushed under McKarney's heavy tread as he steps forward again. Theo blinks, one eye exposed now, the skin around it already red and swelling from the force of the blow. He dodges the next punch neatly and catches the one after that with his own hand, element of surprise over, and twists McKarney's arm behind his back, pushing him away from them. He staggers, balance lost, and goes down.

Jordan has fled, maybe to avoid being implicated in whatever's going on, maybe to get a teacher. Either way, Liam knows that Theo's file has far too many fights on it already, and he doesn't want him to get any more written up on his permanent record.

Theo's clearly about to get into a proper altercation, taking his now broken sunglasses off and tossing them to the floor, rolling the sleeves of his leather jacket up. Liam runs forward, grabs Theo by the shoulder, and swings him around to face him. His eyes are wild with fury, and honestly it's kind of scaring Liam.

"Theo, we have to go," he begs, and grabs his hands, linking fingers in between Theo's, hoping the contact will wake him out of the haze he seems to be in. "Theo, please!" Theo blinks, looks between Liam and McKarney, who's picking himself up off the floor, and then back to Liam.

"That son of a—" Theo starts, anger not dying down at all, and tries to take a step towards the impending fight. Liam stops him with their connected hands, and yanks him back so they're face-to-face. Once again, Theo looks furious, but Liam keeps his expression clear and firm, not backing down from the hard stare, and after a few seconds that drag on for eternity Theo exhales harshly, fury dancing in his pupils decreasing to a simmer.

"We need to go," Liam urges again, squeezing his hand, and Theo nods and rakes a hand through his hair in frustration. Liam's not going to fool himself into thinking he knows the ins and outs of Theo's complex psyche after just a few weeks of knowing him, but he can guess that walking away from an altercation is not his style. He's a fight rather than a flight. Which means they need to go, _now_ , before he changes his mind. He feels a bit bad about shoving him away so roughly, but he needs to get Theo out of the situation quickly while he runs back in and grabs the sunglasses abandoned on the floor. Maybe he should become a criminal, he thinks deliriously as he dashes past McKarney, only just on his feet, and grabs the broken glasses. The crushed lens on the floor could belong to anyone's glasses, but Theo's damn sunglasses are too recognisable and would land him in shit immediately.

He grabs Theo's hand and pulls them both along the corridor, towards the empty bathroom he was originally planning to rendezvous at. Nobody will be in there, considering it's usually deserted, Liam hopes, but of course luck is against them because when Liam bursts into the bathroom, Theo dragged behind him, like a hurricane, Stiles is washing his hands at the sink.

He looks up and scowls. "Oh look, it's the dream team," he says smarmily, then catches sight of the redness and swelling around Theo's eye, Liam's dishevelled and flustered state, and their panting. "What the hell happened?" he sighs, grabbing some paper towels and wetting them.

"Some asshole started a fight," Theo mumbles, still out of breath. Liam nods when Stiles looks to him for confirmation.

"Hold this to your eye," Stiles says, in a tone that indicates exasperation more than reluctance, and extends the paper towels to Theo, who takes them hesitantly. "Don't have any vodka on me, that would reduce the bruising. So you're gonna have a hell of a black eye. Cold water should stop the pain a bit though."

"It does. Thanks."

Silence descends, Stiles apparently unaware of how awkward this situation is. Liam's not sure what to say, Theo's not sure if he should say anything; Stiles busies himself with wetting more and more paper towels until an entire sink is full. Maybe he does feel the awkwardness after all.

Theo, out of courtesy, throws the first towel into the bin and picks up another one, wincing when he touches the bruise again. "How bad is it?" Liam asks anxiously, forgetting that Stiles is there for a moment as he rests his hand on Theo's hip.

"Had worse," Theo says with a small smirk, taking Liam's hand in his own and stroking his thumb along the knuckles. "Would have been worse if you hadn't stepped in."

"Wait, wait, wait," Stiles interrupts, folding his arms together and then near instantly unfolding them to point accusingly at Theo. "You got him involved in a fight?" Liam assumes he's the one Stiles is referring to as 'him', seeing as he jabbed an accusing finger in his direction.

"I got myself involved in a fight," Liam butts in, before Theo can get too riled up again. He's managed to stay calm so far though Liam can almost feel the anger still thrumming through Theo's veins, probably because Liam has felt it so many times himself, but he doesn't want Stiles to set anything off and leave any fragile trust that might be springing up shattered. Stiles, for all his good qualities, has his fair share of irritants and flaws, and one of the more prominent ones would be his inability to see when he's crossing the line. Or see the line itself, for the matter.

Stiles raises an eyebrow at him. "I thought you were getting better," he says, softer but still faintly accusing, and Liam shrugs. He doesn't really want to get into it, because anything that he says to Stiles will get told to Scott, too, and if his protective friend finds out that he was being hassled who knows what would happen. Also, he doesn't want Mason (or Corey, for that matter) to find out about what the jocks were saying. The two of them had only just stopped being given shit, and they were both hopeful about maybe the homophobia dying down.

Theo, though, doesn't have any of those thoughts in his mind and frowns at him. "Liam didn't start it, some guy from the football team did."

Liam shakes his head furiously at Theo when Stiles whips his head around, and then smiles appealingly when the senior glances back to him. "I don't want it to be a big deal. Maybe it will die down then."

Stiles scowls, not looking happy, but he seems to see the sense in Liam's words and nods, albeit grudgingly and jerkily, clearly not thrilled with the course of action they're taking. Liam hopes he doesn't make anything worse and adds, "Theo saved me from getting my ass handed to me, actually."

Theo jerks his head up, eyebrows raising behind the third paper towel. He seems to be asking Liam what the hell he's talking about, but Liam doesn't see any trouble in tweaking the truth a little if it makes Stiles feel a little friendlier towards his boyfriend. Besides…if Theo hadn't arrived when he had, who knows what might have happened? McKarney might have lunged for him, instead, and however strong Liam is he's not really a match against a six-foot-something football player who looks like he eats steroids for a light snack in between meals.

"Well," Stiles finally says, glancing between the two of them, "well." Liam shuffles a little more towards Theo, who senses his anxiety and reaches out his spare hand for Liam to hold. Stiles's eyes flicker to the movement, then something like a smile tugs at his lips when Theo brings their joined hands up and brushes his lips against Liam's knuckles. "Well. This is getting too homoerotic for my liking, so I'm just going to…" He jerks his thumb over his shoulder towards the bathroom door.

"Thanks," Theo says, nodding as Stiles leaves and throws a hand up in farewell. As soon as the door has swung shut, he takes the soggy towel away from his eye and throws it towards the bin. It goes in perfectly, of course. Liam ignores Theo's smirk.

"Want to go home?" Liam asks quietly, staring at the floor. The lights in here, when they aren't plunging them into temporary darkness for a few milliseconds here and there, are too bright. The tiles look washed out underneath his feet, too bright, like it would in a dream. Like someone turned the saturation on a picture way down.

"Shouldn't," Theo says in a bitter kind of voice. "If that brute says anything, it'll basically confirm their suspicions if I leave early. If I stay I might get a chance of not getting into any shit for it."

Liam blinks at him. "Since when did you care about avoiding shit?" He thinks he already knows the answer. Theo knows that he knows too, because he just quirks an eyebrow at him and nods towards the exit. They leave together, and Theo checks round to see if anybody's there before pecking Liam on the lips and cupping his face.

"I'd better get to my next class," he murmurs, kind of regretfully, and like magic the bell rings. "You too."

Liam nods, and stays while Theo heads off, looking uncomfortable without his sunglasses to hide behind. They agreed on this system a while ago – one of them leaves before the other, they don't arouse suspicion that way. Though seemingly everyone knows about them now, so why the fuck are they bothering? Liam shakes his head and sets off the same way two minutes earlier than he usually does, imagining his footsteps falling in the same place as Theo's.

Christ, he's getting sappy.

* * *

Three hours after Mason drops Liam home, there's a knock – more of a pounding, actually – at the door and then a ring of the doorbell, almost sheepish, and when he spies Theo through the peephole he has to hold back a laugh at the thought of his badass boyfriend striding up to the door and knocking, before seeing the doorbell and ringing it sheepishly as an afterthought.

"Don't need anything, thanks," Liam smiles as he opens the door.

Theo smirks at him, the black eye properly developed and angry now, says, "Cute, Li," and then pushes past him into the house and heads straight upstairs, which is…not out of character, but also kind of out of character? Liam follows him up and watches as Theo puts a pen on the open page of his textbook before slamming it shut, leaving it on the desk as he motions to the bed.

"Thanks for marking the page," Liam says carefully, unable to read the older boy's mood. He seems kind of closed off, and angry, but Liam doesn't think at him. "Did, uh, McKarney say anything?"

Theo scowls, the ugly expression flashing onto his face and then off again like a lightning bolt, before rolling his shoulders and saying, forced casual, "Yeah. Got called to the principal."

"And?" Liam says when Theo doesn't offer any more information.

Theo breathes, then automatically reaches into his pocket, frowning when he doesn't find the sunglasses. "I said he was…bothering you. Didn't say how. They let me off because Jordan confirmed the story when I mentioned him as a witness."

Liam nods. Nothing terrible so far. "So why do you look so…" He gestures at Theo, who doesn't seem to have noticed that he's clenched his fists and is as tense as someone on trial. "Come, sit." After a moment of hesitation, Theo drags himself over to the bed and flops in front of Liam, facing him, face neutral like a mask. Without thinking, Liam tugs at Theo's jacket, they get it off together, and then he massages his hands into the tense muscles around Theo's shoulders. Theo's head falls forward as he visibly relaxes, stiffness leaving his arms.

"I didn't want to bring you into it," he admits after several minutes of careful, gentle, loving touches. "But McKarney was giving me these smug looks, like he knew he was going to get away with it and I was going to get a suspension, and I just…" Theo's head snaps up. Liam doesn't stop his ministrations, just nodding for him to continue. "I didn't want to let you down," he says with something like wonder in his voice.

"That's love, bitch," Liam quotes to ease the tension a little, and they high-five. "Also, you saying that I was being bothered? I would have been okay if you'd said more, Theo, as long as you told the truth to make sure you weren't unfairly treated."

"Don't deserve you," Theo murmurs even as he chases Liam's lips and catches him in a slow kiss.

"Yeah, well, I know best, and I know that I love you," Liam rambles as he leans into the kiss, breathing the words against Theo's lips. Then he's being laid down as Theo settles his weight on top of him, legs intertwined. This is familiar territory now, still is when the shirts come off, less so when Theo slides down his body smoothly and starts kissing his hipbone.

"Theo?"

"Liam, I – I want to," Theo says desperately, never looking quite so wrecked. His lips are bright red, partially from being bitten, partially from the intensity of the kissing alone, his hair is dishevelled and rumpled where Liam mussed it up, he has two hickeys on his neck – and the bruise over his eye just adds to the effect, really, and there's a kind of frantic air around him. "Been dreaming of this, Li."

Liam nods, eyes glassy. "Yeah, yeah, um." They work together to take off his jeans, then his boxers, and for a second he feels terribly exposed being so naked when Theo is just shirtless, especially when Theo just _stares_ at his cock for an eternity, eyeing the flushed head and small dribbles of pre-come. Then, finally, he moves, darts forward and licks up the length, swirling his tongue around the tip when he gets there – which takes far too long, but also not long enough.

Liam drops his head back and groans. It's too much effort to keep looking, as much as he'd love to see Theo's lips wrapped around his cock. He whines when Theo leaves, but his boyfriend just croons, "Beautiful, Liam, so beautiful," before he returns and swallows down as much of Liam's dick as he can, wet heat overwhelming him in the best way possible. Theo stops when he reaches his limit and bobs his head, which is good enough by itself, but then he adds suction and Liam goes to heaven right then and there.

"So good, Theo," he gasps, propping himself up on his elbows just so he can see Theo, one hand splayed over his hip and the other wrapped around the base of his cock, making sure he doesn't go down too far, mouth stretched wide around him and hair falling over his face. "Oh my God, you're amazing." His arms give out under him and he falls back again, trembling.

At some point in the mind-blowing bliss, Theo takes his hand from Liam's cock and starts massaging his balls instead, ever so gently, and takes him deeper and deeper until Liam can feel Theo's throat spasming around the head of his cock, and the sensation makes him so light-headed that he doesn't even register fully when Theo takes him all the way down and begins sucking again, moving slowly to let Liam adjust to the feeling – fuck, Liam's so lucky to have him as a boyfriend, the perfect mix of kind, caring, considerate… and downright dirty.

Liam's hands are gripping the sheets so hard that he's pretty certain he hears a rip, but he really doesn't care apart from thinking _thank God I didn't do that to Theo's scalp_ and they grip even harder when Theo pulls nearly all the way off and does something wonderful with his tongue that forces a sob out of him, and then before he knows it he comes.

Theo swallows the first spurts and then pulls off, licking at Liam's balls while he finishes collecting himself, and then rolls onto his side, grinning like a lunatic. He has come on his face and chest, in his hair, his lips are even more deliciously swollen than before and there's a bulge the size of Africa in his trousers - but he's never looked happier.

"Thank you," Liam blurts, still out of breath, because he feels like the polite thing to do when someone's put your dick in their mouth is to thank them. Theo waves a hand as if to say it doesn't matter and pats Liam's thigh gently.

"Take it that was good?" he asks hoarsely, rolling onto his stomach and grimacing when presumably his cock rubs against the bed.

Liam laughs, delirious in post-orgasmic haze, and pats the bed besides him. Theo crawls up, slowly, and Liam encircles him in his arms and then draws him in for a long kiss, only slightly surprised when he tastes his own come on Theo's tongue. "I, uh, don't know if I can…" Liam flushes as he gestures to Theo's crotch and then his own mouth. At this point, saying 'blow you' shouldn't be a challenge.

"That's fine," Theo says immediately. "Could, I, uh – use your leg?" He looks almost ashamed at the request, and it takes Liam a few seconds to understand what he means. Then he agrees, so eagerly that Theo laughs, and they pull Theo's jeans off and settle themselves so Theo can rut against his leg and kiss him at the same time.

It's possibly even hotter than the blowjob, which is saying something. Having Theo rub himself desperately against him, feeling the outline of his cock drag against his leg as he grinds frantically, all at the same time that he's kissing him hot and fast and dirty…it's an experience.

Theo stills for a moment, grinds down one more time, and then his head drops to Liam's shoulder as he shudders and comes. Liam feels his own cock twitch in response at the sight, and firmly instructs himself not to get goddamn horny again. They're both far too exhausted to do shit about it.

Theo presses a wet, open-mouthed kiss against his collarbone and rolls off him. "I fucking love you," he tells Liam like he's commenting on the weather.

"I love fucking you," Liam responds, proud of himself for the retort.

"Oh, you're so witty, so funny."

"Love you too."

* * *

The time he spends with Theo decreases steadily over the next three weeks. They have their championship lacrosse game coming up, and Coach schedules more and more practices. When the week before the big game rolls around, Liam is getting into school at seven AM for an hour's practice, then training at lunch, then heading back out to the field to play again for several hours when the school day ends. In summary, he's exhausted.

Theo's always there, though. Nobody seems to pay him much mind (the school got pretty used to the idea of them dating, apparently, as nobody bats an eyelid when they leave school together in Theo's truck or occasionally chat in the corridors between lessons. Maybe nobody just wants to say shit to their face about it because of Theo's reputation) when he sits on the bleachers and reads through textbooks, or fills in worksheets, or makes notes while Liam does suicide runs and practices trick shoots and talks strategy.

The game is on Friday, which means that on Thursday Coach is nearly out of his mind and showing it more than usual (which is saying a lot for him), and eventually they call a break halfway through practice when half the players look ready to cry and Coach snaps his clipboard in half and storms off to get another one.

Liam wanders over to the goal, where Corey is standing with an unreadable expression, as far as he can tell through the helmet. All of the other team members have gathered in a huddle at the centre line, presumably for a pep talk, or to stop them all from bursting into hysterics. "You okay, man?" he asks when he gets close, and then realises Corey is staring past him at the bleachers.

He turns, follows his line of sight, and sees Scott and Theo…chatting? Arguing? It's hard to tell from this distance. It looks intense, anyway, so Liam jogs over, shedding his helmet as he does and hoping Theo doesn't judge him for the atrocious hairstyle it's given him.

Neither of them notice him coming, so Liam hears the end of Theo's sentence: "I won't, I promise," before his presence becomes obvious.

"What are you talking about?" Liam asks nervously, making Scott jump. Theo doesn't so much as flinch, new pair of douchey sunglasses in place.

Scott reads his apprehensive expression right and guesses what he must be thinking. "Nothing bad, Liam," he says gently. "I just realised that I never really talked to Theo properly, so when I saw him I came over."

"We got some awful Spanish homework," Theo continues, "and Scott was saying that he'd be able to help me out with it. It's not my best subject."

Liam nods. He knows that much is true, after a few weeks' ago when Theo's attempts at a Spanish poem had left them both in spasms of laughter. "Okay," he says uncertainly, and is saved from any further awkwardness when Coach arrives back and starts abusing his whistle. "Better go."

"Play good," Theo calls after him, and he turns around with a goofy smile and nearly walks into Scott.

As they get changed back in the locker room, Scott says quietly, "You know, he really likes you."

"I know," Liam says, somewhat smugly, because he does know.

"I'm sorry. I should have listened to you more, and you're right. I shouldn't have been judging people for what I heard about them." Scott looks pained at the thought of mistreating someone.

"To be fair, everything you heard about Theo is probably true," Liam says drily, and Scott snorts a laugh. "But he's…different, underneath. And yeah, he loves me."

"You know that?"

"He's said it a few times. And I just know. I love him too." He looks up to see Scott rather bemused, but also happy.

"You're usually so clueless about these things," he says cheerily. "Well done." Then he slaps Liam on the back and heads out, grabbing his backpack.

Liam grabs his own bag and follows him. Conversations with Scott always leave him feeling both better about himself and also slightly confused about what just happened.

* * *

Friday rolls around far too quickly for Liam's liking. The teachers are more lenient with work, and he skips lunch with his friends to hang out with Theo under the bleachers instead, making out and panicking and cooing at the packed lunch that Theo made specially for him, knowing it will keep him calmer than being around all the adrenaline and macho back slaps from the rest of the school. He's already been excused from afternoon lessons and Theo skips to watch him warm up with the rest of the team, shooting him thumbs-ups and encouraging looks whenever he looks over. It's just what he needs, keeping him cool, both for his anxiety and his anger, which threatens to rear its temperamental head whenever he feels any extreme emotion.

They retreat to the changing rooms before the stands have a chance to fill up properly; there are groups scattered around, mostly teachers who didn't see the point in going home before returning for the game, and students who are mostly friends of the lacrosse team. Just as he gathers his gear and follows the rest of the team inside, Liam catches sight of Mason and the rest of their friends sitting with Theo, chatting (somewhat awkwardly) amongst themselves, and the load on his chest lightens a little.

* * *

Half-time is called with the scoreboard at equal. Liam's scored two of the three goals for Beacon Hills, spurred on by Theo's cheering – well, Theo's version of cheering, which is to stand next to a screaming Mason and nod every so often, then give Liam a thumbs-up when he scores and look proud, once even pressing his hand over his heart for a fleeting second – and the enthusiasm of the crowd. Corey has saved most of the goals from the other side, but there's been a worryingly high number of goal attempts, whereas their own side has only gotten to their goal those three times. In a way, that's good, because it means the opposing team's goalie is kind of shit if they have a hundred percent success rate. Also bad, because the rest of the team has made up for the goalie's failings by preventing them from getting the ball to the goal for most of the half already.

The team huddle, Coach yells at them about being brothers and having each other's backs, and then tells them how proud their girlfriends – and boyfriends, he adds, with pointed looks in Liam and Corey's direction – will be if they win, and how sad their parents will be if they lose. It's an interesting strategy, especially when he tacks on a comment about the important of properly disposing of athlete's foot spray cans.

But it works, apparently, because in the second half Corey blocks all of the other team's goals and they score three more of their own, one of them from Liam again. When the final whistle sounds, they're exhausted, sweaty, tired, grimy, achy from being tackled, but it's worth it for when Theo heads down from the bleachers with a multitude of other people and sweeps him up into a rare display of public affection.

"You were amazing," he murmurs, then carefully pushes Liam's helmet off. "So amazing." In an even rarer move, he leans in and kisses him chastely, then hands him his helmet. "You also stink, though, so go shower. I'll be in the truck."

Liam sighs and presses a hand to his chest. "My Prince Charming," he swoons, laughing when Theo seizes his arms and brings him into one more hug before shoving him away and heading towards the parking lot. With a glance back, though, which Liam notices and will definitely be teasing him about later.

He drags Corey away from Mason, who are much less shy about PDA than him and Theo, to put it mildly, and showers in record time, not partaking in the celebratory cheers like he usually does. The hot water does something to soothe his muscles, but as soon as he's out and dressed and in the cold air outside it comes straight back. Maybe he should pay more attention to the warming up and cooling down stretches that Coach is always going on about, because he is _sore_. Corey is too, if the way he winces when he climbs into the passenger seat of Mason's car is any indication. Liam waves them both goodbye and starts walking a little faster when he sees Theo in his truck, engine running and windows steamed up slightly.

It's a relief to get in the heated truck. The drive home is mostly filled with Liam ranting about how the game went, with the occasional comment from Theo, and then the two of them laughing about how a guy on the other team fell over his own shoelaces and brought another two guys down with him. The last few minutes are spent in silence when they run out of stuff to talk about, but it's amicable and once they turn off the busy road onto Liam's estate Theo reaches over and takes one of Liam's hands in his own.

They pull up outside Liam's house and Theo, with an expression that allows for no arguing, takes his equipment bag and stick upstairs to his room for him, which is a relief because it takes all of the strength that Liam has left within him to actually get out of the truck and walk up the stairs.

Theo drops his stuff in the corner of his room, where he's noticed that Liam usually keeps it, and perches on the end of the bed while Liam stretches out. He looks peaceful, relaxed, like he's meant to be there. Liam tears his eyes away from his boyfriend and starts pulling gear and clothes out of the bag so they can be washed before the smell grows too pungent.

"So, I want to have sex," he begins, and then seriously starts considering if it's normal for the human brain to fuck up so much when he sees Theo's mingled shock and amusement. "However…there is a but."

"Is it yours? Please say yes, because it is a great butt," Theo quips immediately, looking pleased with himself even though his eyes are soft with love.

Liam wants to kiss him for knowing exactly what to say that will make him relax after his verbal slip-up, but also wants to scowl at him for looking like such a smug idiot. Astonishing, really, how many ways Theo can make himself look like a moron. Instead he throws the jersey he's holding at him.

"Ew! It's gross and sweaty." Theo looks disgusted and throws it back with a grimace. Liam catches it one-handed without turning around, expecting the action, and dumps it in the laundry hamper with everything else. "Show-off."

"The _but_ is that my entire body aches like I've been hit by a truck and I don't think I'm capable of doing anything more energetic than being the little spoon." Liam finishes chucking the soiled kit in his hamper and nudges it out of the door so the room won't reek when they wake up, then shuts the door after him. He doesn't bother with the lock; his parents are out of town for another night.

"That's a great but too," Theo agrees, and gets off the bed to shuck off his jeans and shirt, leaving him in just briefs. "Come on then, little spoon."

"Thank you," Liam groans as Theo pulls back the covers and lets him fall straight onto the mattress. He climbs in after him and rearranges him into a position more befitting the little spoon, then curls around him and presses sweet kisses to the back of his neck, peppering them into his hair too every so often, while his hands stroke over Liam's arms, and begin massaging out the cramps.

Liam falls asleep with his mind and body completely calm for the first time in ages.

* * *

"Are you sure?" Theo asks for the hundredth time. Their hands are clasped together, slightly sweaty. The only light is from the lamp on the other side of Theo's room, and a candle he'd insisted on lighting. The room smells like smoke and vanilla because of it.

Liam rolls his eyes. "Of course," he says for the hundredth time. "I love you, and I trust you, and I want you." The words come out smoothly, but his cheeks still heat up.

Theo's eyes never move away from his, his throat bobbing as he swallows. "Okay. Yeah, uh…okay."

Liam has never seen Theo this nervous before, and he can't think why – unless… "Unless you don't want to! Which is fine!"

"No! No, I want to." Theo's eyes move then, finally, to flicker to Liam's mouth and then back up. "I just – I've done this before, but you haven't, so I wanted to make sure you're ready."

"And I am, Theo," Liam reassures, and shuffles closer to him, bringing his free hand up to a strand of loose hair dangling over the older boy's forehead. "I am…so ready." His cheeks burn again.

His boyfriend nodded again, squeezing their joined hands a little tighter, a hesitant but genuine smile sneaking onto his face. "If you insist," he says quietly, and ducks forward just a little to press a soft kiss to Liam's cheek. "So, uh, you still want to do it like we talked about?"

Liam blinks, brief flashbacks to both their talk (horrendously awkward, mostly due to Liam) and horribly drawn cartoon images from some pamphlets he'd found shoved into his locker (probably by Mason, after Liam texted him at three in the morning with a self-proclaimed 'gay crisis') popping into his mind. "Yeah, that's – that would be great."

"Alright," Theo agrees, rubbing over his knuckles and the back of his hand soothingly. He looks at Liam like he's meant to say something else, but he has no idea what. Then he ducks his head down, a crooked grin spreading across his lips before he kisses him, slow and easy.

Liam thinks that maybe the kiss was meant to calm him down, because Theo can always sense when he's anxious (like one of those cats that can smell cancer), but it does nothing to slow down his heart rate. In fact, it might even kick it up a notch. He can hear it pound loudly and rapidly in his ears even though the kiss is slow and steady, not evolving into anything wild and messy like he'd thought it would. Liam lets himself sink into the feeling, running his hands down Theo's broad shoulders to his biceps and then onto his back, digging his nails in slightly.

Theo hisses and finally the kiss becomes a little uncoordinated, and Liam feels himself melting back against the bed. Theo's mouth is open and warm now, losing himself into the sensation and tugging at Liam's lips with his teeth, just how he knows he likes it.

Liam skims his fingertips down Theo's chest until he catches the hem of his shirt, fumbling until he gets a good grip on it and then breaks away from him, asking quietly, voice trembling a little bit, "Can I take this off?" It's not as if he hasn't seen Theo shirtless or even naked before, but it feels different this time.

Theo smiles and brushes their noses together in an eskimo kiss. "Of course," he breathes, and shifts to sit up and raises his arms. Liam helps him pull the shirt off and then starts when he feels Theo's warm fingertips against the hem of his own shirt, and then lifts his arms up so Theo can return the favour.

Liam traces his fingers over the trail of hair leading underneath Theo's jeans, and then Theo leans down to kiss him again, full and deep. He pulls away to murmur, "Look at you," and doesn't dive back in before Liam gets the chance to roll his eyes, though secretly he's touched.

Liam soon tugs at Theo's hair, getting him to pull away, and takes a second to breathe. "I, uh, didn't bring any… _supplies_ ," he admits. He hadn't thought about it before, assuming that Theo would have stuff. But maybe this part was what he was meant to do?

"Don't worry," Theo smiles, and lifts himself a little higher to lean over to his bedside table. Liam watches as he pulls open the drawer and takes out a small pack and bottle, settling them next to the lamp before resuming his original position on top of Liam, and kissing him again.

Liam feels lighter but also more impatient now, fingers itching to find Theo's zipper. He fumbled blindly to get there, trying to be subtle so that he could start working them off before Theo notices, but then his boyfriend breaks the kiss with a smirk and asks, "Need some help, sweetheart?"

Liam raises his hands in surrender, smiling sheepishly, while Theo unzips his own jeans and then Liam's, and together they scramble ungratefully and manage to kick their trousers off onto the floor, leaving them both in just their underwear, and also slightly out of breath.

Liam's stomach swoops, out of anxiety or excitement he's not sure. Before he can dwell on it for too long, Theo starts kissing at the spot just under Liam's ear, sucking for a few seconds before letting his tongue dart over the area. At the same time, Theo rolls his hips downwards and their cocks grind together, both of them hard already from the kissing and apprehension alone.

Theo moves to pull Liam's boxers down, fingers tugging at the waistband, and Liam freezes, grabs his wrist and stops him. "Can we…together?" he asks, biting his lip. It's nothing new, but…it should be special, right? Shared.

"Of course," Theo reassures with another kiss, and takes Liam's waistband back between his thumb and forefinger as Liam does the same to his briefs. They hurry the last layer off together, tossing it somewhere to be worried about later, and Liam feels a rush of mixed terror and exhilaration because the two of them are vulnerable and naked and Theo is so goddamn gorgeous.

Apparently he says that last thought aloud, because Theo laughs softly and shakes his head. " _You_ ," he insists, "are breathtaking. God, what did I do to deserve you." He continues his ramble between kisses down Liam's neck and chest, stopping at his stomach and lathering his abs in attention.

"I love you," Liam breathes, and thinks that Theo is about to repeat the sentiment when he wraps his fist around Theo's cock and he hisses, drops his head and then bucks into Liam's hand.

"As much as I am loving this," Theo says a few moments later, voice remarkably collected and eloquent, "we should probably – ah – get to the main event soon." Liam translates the sentence as 'I'm going to blow my load soon' so he nods even as a furious blush rises to his cheeks.

"Do you need a pillow?" Liam asks breathlessly.

Theo cocks an eyebrow at him. "Someone's been doing their research," he says, half-questioning, half-fond, then nods towards the pillows.

"I asked Mason. He shoved a load of leaflets in my locker," Liam explains and hands Theo a pillow, raising his hips and wiggling until it feels comfortable. Then Theo grabs the bottle from the nightstand and uncaps it. The room falls silent, apart from their ragged breathing. Theo coats some lube onto three of his fingers, generously, and then eyes Liam.

"You can ask to stop at any time," he reminds the younger boy, and seems satisfied at the nod he gets in response. "So, ah – could you…?" He motions towards Liam's legs, which are pretty firmly pressed together.

"Oh! Yeah." It feels odd for a moment, too exposed, but then Theo leans back over him and rubs the thumb of his spare hand in circles around the back of Liam's neck. "I'm ready," he tells Theo, not entirely sure if he is, but knowing that he'll probably never quite be completely ready if he doesn't get on with it.

"Relax, and breathe," Theo instructs, and Liam rolls his eyes because what kind of fucking stupid advice is that, but then there's a cold, foreign sensation against his hole and he jolts in surprise, before acquiescing and inhaling deeply through his nose.

The exhale becomes a groan when Theo's finger gently nudges inside him, pushing past his rim, slowly and carefully searching the inside of him. "Sweetheart?" Theo asks, stilling himself, free fingers now playing with Liam's hair.

"I'm good…it's just a bit weird," Liam admits, knowing he can be completely open (literally, too) around Theo.

"Bad weird?" Theo takes the opportunity to wiggle the finger just a little, experimentally.

"Good weird," Liam answers instantly, gasping, and then searches out Theo's mouth so he can kiss him. Theo keeps kissing him as his finger drags inside Liam, then slowly pulls out only to enter again, a little more insistent each time. It's kind of uncomfortable at first, but still good, which is weird, and Liam quickly adjusts to the feeling and pulls away to mutter, "Another."

Theo shushes him as a second fingertip joins the first, kissing away his gasps and moans, and stops each time Liam gets a little stiff at the feeling. He makes Liam verbally confirm he's ready for the third finger, and at Liam's insistence goes in quickly, panting himself at the sensation.

Liam arches his back off the mattress once the initial sting has passed, closing his eyes in an effort to control himself. "Theo," he whimpers pathetically, eyes opening to find his boyfriend staring back at him with such love that he feels overwhelmed for a second.

"I'm here," Theo reassures immediately, and continues carefully opening him up, scissoring his fingers slowly and rotating his wrist. "Fuck, Liam – how do you—"

"Ready, God, Theo, so ready," Liam trips over the words, and Theo nods blindly and pulls his fingers out. Liam whines at the emptiness that already seems wrong but settles when he sees Theo trying to open the condom wrapper, fingers shaking a little. "Are you? Ready?"

Theo huffs out a laugh, but at Liam's voice manages to tear open the crinkled packet and extract the contents. "I am so ready, sweetheart," he mutters, moving back to hover over him. "I just want this to be perfect for you."

Liam cups Theo's face in his hands, rubbing his thumb over his cheekbones. "Already perfect," he tells Theo sincerely, and his boyfriend smiles so brightly he blots out the sun for a second. Then he moves away for a second to carefully roll on the condom and slick himself up with more lube, and if Liam thought he was being excessive before then Theo was being a lunatic now.

Theo catches his raised eyebrow, and reprimands playfully, "Better too much than too little," and leans down to kiss Liam while situating himself between his legs, lining his cock up and holding his waist at the right angle. "Ready?"

"Yes." Liam nods quickly, urgently.

"Remember, if you need to stop, or pause, we can."

"I know, Theo. Thank you."

"No need to thank me, it's called consent."

"Go slow?"

"Whatever you need." Theo kisses him, quick and chaste. "Relax."

Liam kisses him, slow and dirty, as Theo starts to ease in, gentle, gradual. His muscles tense of their own accord, and he only realises when Theo taps at his hip. He forces himself to breathe and relax, and the burning stretch starts to fade a little. He braces his hands on Theo's back, feeling the strong muscles underneath ripple. It's not pleasurable so far, there's just a dull ache that's throbbing up his spine, and Theo sticks to his promise and gives Liam time to adjust and asks before pushing in deeper. It felt too intense, both in terms of the pain and the sensation, until Theo bottoms out and encourages Liam to breathe a few times.

Then, all of a sudden, it's the best fucking feeling ever, and he scrabbles at Theo's back, no doubt leaving red scratch marks all over his skin. "Move," he insists urgently.

Theo obeys, dragging his hips back slowly and then back in, rotating just a little, and Liam throws his head back. "Theo!"

Theo, thankfully, takes this as a good sign and keeps moving, a little faster each time, little gasps escaping his lips as he does, and ripping ragged, throaty noises from Liam. Everything feels so good, Liam feels overwhelmed in such a brilliant way. "Tell me if it's too much," Theo huffs a few moments later, then changes his angle slightly and rocks forward gently.

For a second, Liam doesn't understand what he's talking about, and then he sees stars and forgets how to breathe for a second. Theo, he vaguely notes, is smirking in his usual way as he rams into the spot over and over again, the one that makes tendrils of white-hot pleasure snake through his entire body, short-circuiting his brain.

He wants to reach down and jerk himself off, feeling so close to the edge, but Theo's back is his anchor and he's honestly not sure if he has the coordination to do anything apart from carve crescent-shaped cuts into the tanned skin, which he'll apologise for later but secretly not feel bad about.

Theo is seriously some kind of goddamn mind reader because the next second a sweaty hand finds his cock and starts tugging in time with his thrusts, and even more amazingly Theo has the presence of mind to kiss his neck, while all Liam can do is bury his face in the juncture between Theo's own neck and shoulder. It's so much, and too much, and bliss, so he's not surprised when he feels himself about to come.

"Theo—" he grinds his own sentence to a halt when Theo presses his thumb into the sensitive skin under the head of his cock and murmurs, "Me too," sounding hoarse and strained and desperate.

One more thrust, harder and sloppier than the others, and Liam suddenly yelps and calls out Theo's name as he crashes, shuddering and moaning and gasping as he spills all over Theo's hand and both of their chests, all the while Theo kept up the steady rocking. When he comes back down Theo is still chasing his own release but he's getting kind of oversensitive, but then his hips stutter.

"Ah – Liam, fuck," Theo grunts, his cock pulsing inside Liam when he comes, hips jerking futilely a few more times as he rides out the high of his orgasm.

He's not sure how long it takes, but eventually he's aware of a now-soft Theo pulling out of him slowly, tying off the condom and throwing it along with the wrapper into the bin. Then he flops down next to him, tugs him closer for a hug despite the mess covering both of them, and grins. "Holy shit."

"I agree," Liam replies, and then starts laughing because _holy shit_ is right. "Theo – Theo, that was…so amazing."

Theo nods, swallowing, closing his eyes for a second. Then he gets up, slowly, telling Liam that his limbs are probably aching as much as his own. Before he can protest, Theo grabs a box of tissues from his desk and returns, wiping Liam down first and then himself, kissing Liam's forehead and hair every chance he gets.

"I love you," he says when he chucks the tissues into the bin too. His hair, usually perfectly styled, is sticking to his forehead with sweat, or tousled, with barely-there scruff beginning to glisten along with the rest of his skin. His cheeks were pink, his lips were swollen, pupils dilated. He's the most beautiful thing Liam's ever seen, and Theo pretends to be offended that he's been called a thing before wrapping Liam up in the biggest, sweatiest hug ever.

Liam protests for a minute before giving up, accepting that Theo's not going to move and actually, at this point, sweat really wasn't the most gross of bodily fluids they'd exchanged. They drift off together even though it's only just gone ten, not bothering to clamber under the covers.

(Liam curses that decision when he wakes up four hours later, freezing his ass off from the combination of the lack of covers and cooling sweat, and takes a quick shower while Theo still sleeps. On the way to the shower he realises he has a dull ache radiating down his lower spine and he's limping because of it, and thanks all the gods he can think of – Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Celtic, you name it – while he cleans off the sweat and come sticking to him that it's a Friday and he has the whole weekend to recover without lacrosse practice or his friends teasing him.)

* * *

Apparently Liam's not the only one with a thing for sneaky showers, because when he wakes up for the second time that morning – much later, this time, thankfully – Theo is sitting at his desk, back to him, with hair still dripping clear droplets onto his naked back.

In fact, he's completely naked, something Liam isn't sure he's quite good with himself, so he pulls on his discarded boxers and wanders over to his boyfriend, the ache palpable but slightly reduced. He still winces.

"Hey."

"Morning," Theo replies, not looking away from the laptop screen for a second, before closing it and ejecting a disc from the drive, which he places into a clear case with all the delicacy of handling a religious artefact. Only then does he turn to Liam, and smile. "How are you feeling?"

Liam rolls his eyes. "How do you think? Sore, asshole. And it's your fault."

"Takes two to tango," Theo says with a touch of mirth, but stands up and guides Liam back to the bed. "Come on, massage time."

Between the massage, breakfast, a make-out session that Liam badly wants to go further but Theo refuses on account of how sore he already is, and an impromptu sing-along to Katy Perry on the radio, the CD from earlier slips Liam's mind. That is, until Theo drops him back off at his house, and passes the case over to him. At his puzzled glance, he just says, "Listen to it later."

"You made me a mixtape?" Liam grins, feeling absurdly proud, even more so when Theo fidgets and looks embarrassed.

"If you say so," he grumbles, and gives Theo one last goodbye kiss before fleeing the scene. Liam laughs and heads inside, hugging the CD case to his chest.

* * *

Liam could load it straight onto his laptop, but then the names of the songs would come up, and he wants his first time listening to this to be secret and special, for reasons he can't quite explain or justify. So, instead, he hunts under his bed and finds a slightly battered CD player from a couple of years ago, back when CDs were still a thing. It's modern enough to have a headphone port, though.

Liam plugs in his headphones and listens to the disc whirring around, waits for the first track to start. When it does, he shuts his eyes and prepares himself to get lost in the music. It's kind of familiar, but he can't quite place it. Maybe when the singing starts—

Wait.

His eyes fly open.

Hannah Montana. Hannah _fucking_ Montana is in his ears, crooning about how he could be the one.

Liam shuts his eyes again, resigning himself to the fact that he should have expected that. He knew full well what a weird asshole Theo was when he got into a relationship with him, so he settles back and listens calmly.

The first track on the CD makes him think it's all going to be stupid, which might have been what Theo was trying to do – equally, he could just be an idiot – but then John Legend's _All of Me_ follows it and Liam feels his heart swell as he listens to the lyrics. Theo wouldn't have chosen a song if he didn't mean it, he knows. Even one by Hannah Montana. The piano eventually fades out to a song he vaguely recognises from the radio, a girl-group, he thinks – about how nobody can love them like this one boy can, and then that changes to a song with guitar and drums that instantly makes him have some weird kind of Pavlovian response and think of Shrek.

 _Accidentally in Love_ by Counting Crows, he realises when it reaches the chorus. A good song. Also a Shrek song, and it can never not be a Shrek song now that he has that association, he muses when it ends.

A reggae kind of beat strikes up after the two seconds' silence between tracks, a song that Liam doesn't recognise at all, but he understands why Theo picked it when it reaches the chorus, whoever it is singing _baby you're the highlight of my lowlife_ , and he's kind of sad when the song ends because it was good. Despite the rest of the lyrics being slightly bat-shit crazy. Then Queen's _Crazy Little Thing Called Love_ fades in, and the disappointment is replaced with sheer joy as he bobs his head.

Theo's really taking him on a roller-coaster, because the next song is one that he distinctly remembers complaining about many times, for being kind of terrible but also too goddamn catchy, and he's touched that Theo remembered. He kind of hates _Grease_ , but it's physically not possible to hate _You're the One That I Want_.

Maybe Theo suddenly got into a musical kind of headspace at that point. Liam is embarrassed to admit he recognises the next song. Like everyone, he had a brief stint with _Glee_ when it was airing, and he near instantly remembers Gwyneth Paltrow's character singing _Do You Wanna Touch Me?_ (And if he sings along, nobody needs to be any the wiser.) The fact that Theo knows the song makes him giggle like an idiot for a few minutes, and the laughter doesn't stop when _Burnin' Up_ by the Jonas Brothers suddenly blares out.

Honestly, why was he ever in the least bit intimidated by Theo? He can wear sunglasses indoors and punch people and look devastatingly handsome in his leather jackets, but Liam knows the truth now, and he'll never not be able to see his boyfriend as anything other than a massive dork. Maybe that's why he started the inside sunglasses thing, or his dorkiness would become too obvious.

The thought is only confirmed further when _Love is an Open Door_ comes on.

Another track he's heard on the radio follows it, something about symphonies. He likes it; not as much as likes the next track though, which is a bit more punk, but again he can't place it. He takes a moment from the music to wonder at how weird Theo's music taste is, if this is the range of songs that his mind throws up when he thinks of romance. He's only slightly redeemed when _Love Really Hurts Without You_ jumps in, and then a little more so when it's followed by _Backseat Serenade_.

Then completely redeemed when Ariana Grande's _Into You_ comes on, and again when the CD ends with _You & I_. Liam takes out his earbuds, smiling, and grabs his laptop to load the music onto it. It pops up with the names of each song and artist as he does, and the smiles grows wider when he sees there are sixteen songs in total. One for every year of his life, because Theo is a nerd.

He saves it under a playlist entitled _Theo_ and then grabs his phone. _You are such a dork_ , he texts to Theo, and then follows it with, _I love you so much._

He only has to wait a few minutes for a reply.

 _Of course you do. I'm Theo Raeken._

Then:

 _I love you more than I think is possible._

* * *

I think this is the longest oneshot I've ever written? It took me approximately a month and a half to get done, enjoy the resulting mess

In case you were wondering about the CD:

1\. He Could Be the One – Hannah Montana  
2\. All Of Me – John Legend  
3\. Love Me Like You – Little Mix  
4\. Accidentally in Love – Counting Crows  
5\. Lowlife - Poppy  
6\. Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen  
7\. You're the One That I Want – Grease soundtrack  
8\. Do You Wanna Touch Me – Glee Cast  
9\. Burnin' Up – Jonas Brothers  
10\. Love Is An Open Door – Frozen soundtrack  
11\. Symphony – Clean Bandit & Zara Larsson  
12\. Cross My Heart – Marianas Trench  
13\. Love Really Hurts Without You – Billy Ocean  
14\. Backseat Serenade – All Time Low  
15\. Into You – Ariana Grande  
16\. You & I – Lady Gaga

As you can tell, my music taste is a disgusting mess, but I'd still recommend checking out the songs!

And as always, thank you guys so much for reading, reviews make my day, so feel free to leave them!


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